A Month of Zutara
by AnnaAza
Summary: Tis the season for Zutara! Thirty-one days of Zutara all right here! Arc Two—Day 31: Eve. "Assimilate and Re-Educate": Katara finds some allies on the way to a new start. For more information for this special month, go to the Zutara Month tumblr page! COMPLETE (for now).
1. Chapter 1

**1. Relief**

Katara loved her children. She admired every small thing they did—a curl of their tiny fingers, a sleepy yawn out of a soft mouth, wide eyes staring in curiosity at this or that, small gurgles and murmurs that she had yet to all interpret, the sweet look they gave her, so innocent and trusting and precious.

She thought it evened out perfectly. A boy and a girl. The boy had Zuko in him so much that she laughed—a shock of black hair against porcelain skin, bright almond and golden eyes, the scrunch of stubborn eyebrows when he needed something, the cries from his strong lungs, a fierce scowl that could change into a smile if she tickled him on the stomach. The girl was very like her, Zuko claimed—wide and clear blue eyes striking against dark caramel skin, a head full of brown curls, a face that would light up with unspeakable joy when either parent looked at her, a small jut of the chin and an impatient frown when her parents didn't get to her fast enough, the pat of the small hand tenderly against a face.

Zuko was a wonderful, no matter how much he worried, father. Oh, yes, he worried about every little sneeze, whimper, cough, and tear. "Katara, should we check the healer—is it normal for this reddening on the bottom?" _Zuko, it's just a little diaper rash; let me heal it._ "Why is he crying so much? Is he colicky? Did something bite him? I _knew_ we shouldn't have taken him outside!" _Zuko, he's fine; he just needs a nap._ "She's not getting anything in her mouth today; the food ends up on me instead of her! What should I do?" _Let me show you a small trick—just pretend it's a small bird landing in her mouth. Make noises._ "Am I holding them right?" _Zuko, you're fine! They're fine! You're great!_

He told them little stories in their cribs, even though they couldn't really understand them. He would rock them to sleep if they fussed when his wife was busy or very tired. He would talk to them and pretend that they were answering back. He'd tell his daughter that she would make a great Waterbender like her mother, and his son a great Firebender, too, like his father—but the world might surprise them and reverse their gifts from their appearances. He would immediately scold them in gentle way if the siblings ever so much showed a hint of disagreement with each other. He let them pull on his hair and try to nab his shiny crown. Katara even heard him softly singing a Fire Nation lullaby that she guessed he'd heard from his mother late one night.

But she was _very, very_ _exhausted._ She'd ran a gauntlet of meetings, paperwork, feeding, changing, arguing with Councilman Tao, finishing writing a treaty, standing almost two hours for a ceremonial gown for the summer solstice celebration, entertaining a small group of noblewoman with a tea party, and trying to eat bits of food throughout the day and part of the night. The nursemaid had to go home because her mother was ill and bed-ridden. _And the children still weren't sleeping._

"Please..." she begged, even though she was sure they understood her as much Momo did. "Go to sleep. _Please..."_ She began to hum a lullaby, but it came out frantic-sounding and almost angry, so it didn't have the desired effect.

Katara felt weary, so she sat down in the carefully-carved rocking chair Gran Gran had sent over, trying to soothe two babies at once. They still keened and cried and fussed.

The door to the nursery opened.

"Katara, it's—" her husband looked out the window. "Very late."

"I know." she tried not to yell, as all three—mother and children—were upset enough as it is. "Where have you been, Zuko? I _needed_ you!"

"I'm _so_ sorry, Tara. I had to meet with the Council about something in Republic City—"

_"Republic City?"_ Katara glared at him, despite that her eyes felt as if they had weight attacked to her eyelids. "This late? It better be an emergency!"

Zuko looked remorse, but also a bit offended. "It was. Aang was attacked."

"What?" That would have made her sit if she'd been standing. "Is he all right?"

"We got a telegram from Sokka. Aang and Toph arrested Yakone, that Bloodbending gang boss, and today was his trial—"

"Oh, him..." she shuddered, remembering the reports Aang and Toph had both sent to her. It was a good thing that Bloodbending was declared illegal...

"And when Sokka declared him guilty, he started Bloodbending everyone in the room. He knocked out the Council members and freed himself when he manipulated Toph into opening his shackles."

"But...shackles? How _was_ he...?"

"His eyes, Sokka said."

Katara shuddered and pulled her children closer; they had stopped crying so loudly, but she didn't care at the moment. Oh spirits, what if they'd run across a Bloodbender like Yakone one day? She wouldn't let them! She hated _Bloodbending...!_

"He tried to escape, but Aang stopped him with Energybending. But before that, Yakone did a number on him. He broke several muscles and maybe a few bones."

_"Oh spirits."_ Katara this time jumped up. "Where is he?"

"In the Republic City hospital. Yakone's in prison. They have Waterbending healers in the city now—"

"I _have_ to go there—I—" Her outburst and sudden movement had startled the babies, and they wailed anew. She suddenly began to cry.

_"Oh, Katara!"_ He took them both from her arms before she knew what he was doing and gently and slowly heated up his arms and hands.

"Zuko?"

"I...don't want to hurt them, but I've been practicing. Uncle once told me when he held me as a baby, I used to fall asleep after a while—and I guessed if might have been his Inner Flame, automatically heating up his body. I was thinking, what if I sped up the process—"

She rose and touched his face softly. "What made you think of this?"

He smiled at her sadly. "You always look so sleepy, Katara. You work so hard, every day. Let me do this for you, Tara. You look as if I could push you over with a feather now."

The children slowly succumbed to his warmth, and he was putting them in their small cribs when Katara sobbed again.

"Tara, Tara, I'm so sorry I wasn't here—"

"Oh, Zuko, I _just_ had...just...a _stressful day—"_ she sunk against his chest and let him hold her. "I wish I was a Firebender; they respond to you _so_ well, and I'm just so..._tired..."_

"There, there. Let's go to bed." he opened the door that led to their room and helped her change into a comfortable, loose nightgown and take her hair down and finally lie down on the wonderfully soft, big bed with cool sheets and soft blankets.

Katara knew it would be a busy today tomorrow. She'd be flying to Republic City on the Royal Family's zeppelin to help out Aang and there'd been tons of work piled up for her when she got back unless she took it with her and it was the first time she traveled away from her children for so long—

She felt Zuko pull her closer and nuzzle her back. Sighing, she closed her eyes. She'd be okay. The day was finally over. And she knew the secret of getting the children to sleep from now on.

* * *

_12/2/12: Minor edits. Carry on!_


	2. Chapter 2

**2. Luminous**

"Now, I'm going to assign all of you a very special assignment!" Bumi cackled, as he strolled down the aisles and handed out bright pink pieces of paper.

"Isn't that a bit redundant?" Sokka whispered to Zuko, paper held up in front of his face so no one could see what he was saying. Zuko snickered, but Katara's steely blue eyes pierced both of them, and she hissed, _"Shhh..."_

"It will be due in two weeks!" their English teacher proudly proclaimed. "Now, as it says right there, I will order you to come up and randomly select an adjective out of this bowl! Then describe something, some_ONE_, using it!" He brandished said bowl with a flourish, and the class laughed, some pulling out phones to take pictures. It was sculpted exactly like a jackrabbit, but dressed in an absurd green headdress with large antlers and flowing, deep purple robe with golden tassels and scallops. It was "Earthbending" a bowl, something he had covered in the "Mythology" section last month.

"This will be a partnership project, so...you will be writing about _your partner!"_ This was met with either loud groans or happy grins, swooping around the classroom to find their chosen preference. Zuko sighed, but let his eyes flicker to the girl who was sitting diagonally across from him.

_"BUT—"_ Bumi swooped his arms, and Zuko feared that the..._extravagant_ jar might break and shatter. He highly suspected Bumi would dramatize it like those_ terrible_ Ember Island Players—

"We will be picking out partners a _different_ way!"

Now the class was staring at Bumi with dumbfounded looks. Katara looked around and raised her hand. "What do you mean by that, Mr. Bumi? Are we...picking names out of a hat or something?"

"Not something as ordinary as that—_ha!_ A rhyme!" Bumi cackled. Sokka looked over at Zuko and raised his eyebrows. Zuko rolled his eyes in response. This time, Katara joined in with a skeptical scrunch of her nose that made Zuko feel something soften in his chest.

_"Everyone, stand up!"_

"Mr. Bumi, what—?" Haru began to ask, still in his seat. The other students were looking around to see if anyone else was standing, and some were slowly beginning to rise once well-trained or startled students jumped up.

"This will be fun—_stand up!"_ This time, everyone did so, Zuko grumbling reluctantly. What was going on now?

_"Now!_ Close your eyes, spin right around twice, then hop to your right, mimic a rabaroo, spin left five times, crouch and roll, _and point!"_

"But, what no one points at the same time to the same person?" Suki inquired. She didn't bother raising her hand; Bumi didn't care.

"I'll figure that out! Now, get into position!"

"What's a rabaroo?" Sokka whispered to Zuko, who managed to shrug violently before Bumi blew his whistle (causing almost everyone to shriek) and yelled, _"Begin!"_

Zuko immediately forgot the third step and just pointed in a random direction after nearly falling over on his rear and scowling furiously in the direction of Bumi's cheering. He heard a chair fall over with a loud crash, someone swear (Jet), apologies for bumping into someone, thumpings of people jumping, hesitant mimicry of what was thought to be a rabaroo, groans of dizziness, and shouts of laughter and confusion.

"Open your eyes, everyone!" Another blow of the whistle. Zuko used to wonder why no teacher came to inquire what was going on or ask Bumi to stop surely disturbing other classes, but like him, they probably had given up.

He was facing Katara, who looked flustered, probably because of the stupid exercise. Bumi was now shoving people together on account of their shirt colors, their same feet position, their favorite smells, or just at random. Zuko shook his head and heard a giggle from Katara.

"YOU TWO! _Get together!"_ Katara yelped as she was thrust into Zuko's chest. He automatically caught her, then quickly tried to think of his uncle in the hot springs, lost puppies, Zhao and his sister together, and a bunch of heinous crimes. This helped.

_"Now..."_ Bumi waggled his eyebrows. "Let's pick an adjective!"

* * *

"This is a really stupid project."

"I think it's nice." Katara tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as the sun faded, painting orange against her cheekbones. He quickly looked at his shoes, neatly crossed in the grass. "It's very creative. What did you get?"

Zuko sighed. "We're not supposed to tell about our adverbs."

_"Adjectives_, Zuko." Katara corrected, then scribbled down something in her notebook paper. He tried to peek at it, but she lightly smacked him on the wrist like a disobedient child.

"Whatever. It's a really weird one, anyway." He looked down at the little slip taped to his binder and scowled.

"I'm sure you'll do fine." Katara smiled at him, patting his arm. He felt a nice, swooping sensation in his chest, then coughed awkwardly.

"Well, let's go. We have Sokka's concert thing to go to in fifteen minutes."

"Ooh, right, I nearly forgot!" She shut her notebook with a snap. "Let's go, Zuko. I'll drive."

* * *

"This is Sokka; it rhymes with_ okka_—and we're going to play you a little song. Thanks for coming to our _Why the Hell Not?_ Party! I'm Sokka, again, and this is Jet and Toph. We've kept you long with this exposition, so let's get started."

_"AND a ONE! A TWO! A ONE TWO THREE FOUR!"_ Sokka shouted and began drumming. He was actually quite good, setting up a fast pace for everyone on the makeshift dance floor, which doubled as his backyard. Toph was excellent on the keyboard—she loved parodying the "prissy" piano her parents made her play by hammering out the most "disgusting" songs on that electric thing, and Jet was a good electric guitar player and a nice singer, though Sokka wrote the songs, which Zuko thought weren't as nice as the music, but he always told Sokka that they were great, so that was his own fault.

_"...For my love is like a BOOMERANG...!"_

Katara came to stand beside him, with an amused look and two drinks in her hands. "Sokka loves boomerangs." She held out of the cans for him to take, and he accepted it with a shy duck of his head, trying not to flush when their fingers touched.

"Your brother is weird." Zuko replied casually. She laughed, bell-like and easily heard despite the racket going up on stage. Her hair blew in the night breeze, and Zuko didn't realize he was staring until Jet bellowed his loudest lyric: _"...I will always come back to YOUUUUUUUUU!"_ and all of them smashed or twanged their respective interments in the final climax. Katara was wincing, but still clapped for her brother onstage as best she could with the drink in her hand.

"That was awful. I might spend the night cleaning blood out of my ears."

"What a morbid idea, Zuko!" she teased, leaning against him. Suddenly, she stiffened when she realized what she was doing.

"Um," she said.

Zuko stared back. Stepped closer. Felt her breath brush his face. Looked into her deep blue eyes. Heard Toph starting a softer tune on the keyboard, which was unusual for her.

"I—"

"My adjective for you was wonderful," she blurted out.

He flushed. "Er—" Well, he didn't have a response to _that._

"And..." Her cheeks matched his, but she kept on going in a hurried tone. "I already knew you were wonderful. A good person. But...to me, it lately...it meant something more."

She was stepping closer.

_Oh boy._ Zuko gulped, tried to control his breathing so he wasn't panting like a nervous bulldog.

"I like you, Zuko. You're wonderful."

She kissed him.

_Wow._

The moonlight danced off Katara's eyes before she closed them quickly. That was pretty—very...lum—wait a minute. Was he supposed to close his eyes? Was this a cue? He noticed she had set her soda can down. When had she done that? Should he? How? Should he throw it and hope for the best? Drop it? It would be sort of awkward trying to embrace her like this—

Why was he thinking like this? Did everyone think during kissing—

He was kissing Katara. He liked Katara! _Focus on the kiss before it ends!_

_How long is a ki—_

_Shut up and enjoy it._

Before Katara pulled away, he managed to respond, pretty sure that he had stood there like a paralyzed idiot for the good part of the first few seconds. Her lips were soft and tasted like 7-Up and cherry lip gloss, and her hair brushed his cheek when he moved in closer. Her small hands gripped his shoulders; he clung rather shell-shocked with one hand to her curvy waist. Her eyes were still closed.

He noticed the moon behind her, how full it was, how gleamed like a lantern on her mocha skin and caramel hair, dancing off her sapphire eyes as she slowly opened them—

_"Luminous,"_ Zuko gaped softly.

Katara pulled back slightly, a quizzical look on her face, scrunching her nose in that adorable way. "What?"

He just smiled and pulled her closer as the band started playing a new songs, blessedly without any words. "Just describing you." Katara smiled and buried her face in his shoulder, Zuko finally putting down his soda can on a nearby table when they passed by it, and he smiled. As he began to compose some lines of this night in his head, a summary of the events preceding the kiss flashed through his mind. He then mentaly groaned and made his observation: "You know, I swear Bumi planned _all _of this."

Katara's eyes widened before she stepped away from him. She poked him in the chest. "Listen, mister, if you're going to be my boyfriend _(Zuko's chest expanded), never _speak of that mad man on our dates. Understood?"

"Yes, ma'am," he smirked, and they commenced dancing under the silver moon and stars for the majority of the night.

* * *

_And yes, Bumi DID plan it all. He is truly a mad genius. _


	3. Chapter 3

**3. Potential**

"Two more laps, people, now!"

Katara sighed inwardly, but smiled placidly as Pakku turned his look in her general direction. He hated complainers. After all her work to get into his prestigious swim team, she was determined not to complain inside or outside of the pool. Others dared not to openly groan, but some were grimacing while underwater.

She loved swimming, though. She used to paddle in the local pool since she was a toddler and swam so far out into the ocean at the beach that her motherr, after scolding her, would joke that that she was secretly a mermaid. The water was so cool and lovely against her skin, so pretty when the sun touched it. She felt weightless in it, as if she was in another world—

She finished her lap before she knew it. Pakku checked his stopwatches and raised his eyebrows.

"I'm impressed, Katara. That's very..._fast._ Beat last time's by a long shot."

"Thank you, sir." Katara kept standing at her spot at the shallow end of the pool. Her other teammates weren't done yet. She expected him to order her to do another lap, but he kept looking at the stopwatch and tapping his pen against the clipboard.

"After practice and after you clean up, you need to come to my office. Don't worry," he looked amusingly at her startled face. "you are not in trouble._ Quite_ the opposite."

* * *

"Katara," Pakku sat across from her from the polished mahogany desk. Katara tried not to fidget. Her cotton skirt was sticking to her legs. "You have surpassed all of my students this year. You are the best swimmer on this team and faster than anyone than they've ever seen."

Katara tried not to gape. "Really, sir?"

"I wouldn't be telling you this if it was false, Katara. You've placed _very_ well in the national competitions. I have a suspect that you can train for something greater."

Her mind was slowly forming something, but she couldn't exactly place it. She was now fiddling with her mother's necklace and quickly folded her hands in her lap.

"Sir?"

"I am talking about the Olympics."

If she was holding something, she surely would have dropped it. "I—_Pakku—"_

"No buts. I think you have a great talent. We will be starting a new practice for you. Alone. Saturdays, at six. I will bring along a special guest."

Katara was still rigid in her seat. _Her? In the national world competition?_ In her mind, she saw herself on a television screen, smiling, slick with water as the first place banner rolled across her figure with her name and country and time proudly labeled. But_ no._ She _couldn't—_

"Well, Katara?"

Katara stood up and pushed her chair in. Her palms felt sweaty. "I—I'll be here first thing, sir."

* * *

"Katara, glad to see you here." Pakku greeted her. She nodded back, and her eyes flickered to the tall, pale figure at his right. He was certainly taller than her coach and wore casual attire—a white shirt with blue jeans and track shoes. The transparent shirt revealed his obvious muscle. She had seen him, definitely, somewhere before.

The man seemed to be observing her, too, and she tried not to flush as she wondered how he could be thought as familiar in her mind. She rifled through her mind and paused with a dawning mixture of surprise and crippling anxiety when his face appeared in her newspaper clippings, proudly displayed on her bulletin board in her room by her medals. Of course, his attire and the backboard was different and unmistakable—the fullcolor photo revealed a perfectly clear-blue pool, goggles hanging around his neck, black hair barely visible beneath the swimming cap, water dripping off of his body, the other swimmers looking astonished or disappointed, and a stone-faced look despite the events.

"As I have observed—" Pakku dryly said, and Katara snapped out of her musings to pay attention. "you have recognized our guest today. Katara, this is Zuko Agni,_ six_ time Olympic gold medalist and other famous awards we shall not spend more time discussing. He is here to observe you today—" Katara gulped. "I have known his uncle for many years, so you should be lucky to have the privilege to have him here. Katara, why don't you show Zuko Agni a few laps and demonstrate your forms, hmm?"

Katara tried not to shiver as she stepped into the freezing pool and put on her goggles with slightly shaking hands, fully aware of him watching her every move. Pakku did not help, as he was murmuring her various times and placements in various competitions. She took a deep breath and pushed off the concrete.

She tried to focus, closed her eyes as the water pulled her in. _Ignore him. Pretend you're at another ordinary practice. You're just swimming; you're in the zone. Concentrate on the water._

Something in her mind clicked, and she felt herself easily settle into a rhythm she'd known for years. She shifted from one form to the next as easily as one would transfer from their left foot to their right. The water felt slick against her form and lapped against her as she lightly but firmly pounded at the water. She was seven years old, hair loose and waving gently in the water, smiling at someone beside her...It felt so easy, so breathless, that she almost didn't hear Pakku calling her to come back.

She quickly swam back and stood up as if she were a soldier in the army. Zuko's famous gold eyes appraised her as Pakku gave her a subtle nod and softening of the eyes, his cue for a well-done. He seemed to ignore the stopwatch he was holding in his hand, as his eyes traveled from her dark blue cap to her fidgety hands in the water.

"Pakku has told me much about you." he started, his voice sounding exactly as it did on the television. It was raspy and low, but she could hear every word he was saying. "You have great promise, Katara. You did very well. Very well."

She ducked her head in attempt to hide her pleased smile and was glad when Pakku ordered her to do more drills while he and Zuko talked more.

* * *

_"You're_ going to be my coach?" she blushed at her rude outburst and clamped down on her lip as a reflex. "I mean, I sorry—I thought Pakku would train me."

"Pakku cannot teach both you and his team. I can, as I am retired." Zuko Agni replied tartly. She nodded mutely.

He did not smile as she would have to reassure her. Instead, he barked, "How much do you practice?"

"Well, four times a week—"

"Starting tomorrow, you will practice every day, most of it. Some days you won't be swimming, some days you will—but you will be working hard._ Understand?"_ This was emphasized by a stabbing of a pen at his clipboard.

Katara shook her head. He glared impatiently, and she resisted the urge to shrink down like a potato bug.

"What don't you understand?" He spoke slowly as if he found her stupid.

"I—I have a job. I have to support myself and my brother. I can't train every day, but I can train most of the days, if my brother doesn't get sick and I need to work overtime—"

He sighed impatiently. "I will pay for your rent, or whatever. Quit your job."

She stared at him. "You _can't."_

He growled at her, almost like a dog. She would have laughed if he wasn't almost a twice as tall as her. "Why not?"

"I mean, I can't just take your money, even if you do have a lot. I—I wasn't raised to take charity—"

His eyes closed, and he seemed to be going through an understanding before he pointed a finger at the pool.

"You will work for me instead and also work three times as hard at training. Now get in. We should have started ages ago."

She scrambled down the metal ladder and into the pool and began to swim as fast as she could. She still felt his eyes on her back.

* * *

Her actual work, she realized, was training. If she ever ventured to actually ask Zuko for a job, he'd roll his eyes and ask her to fetch him something, like a meal or a coffee or weights.

She hated the weeks when when they sat down together to discuss the last practices at the gym's snack bar. Katara espeically remembered one particular one; it wasn't even that special or even out of the ordinary, though, so she couldn't quite put a finger on it. She was nibbling on a nuitrition bar, as Zuko moved his finger down the neatly-typed schedule and her times, not quite looking her in the eyes, and talking to her about her diet and whether she should run more miles on the treadmill. Katara only nodded as she concentrated on sitting up and chewing. She looked at the clock. Usually at this time, he'd wrap it up, tear off a piece of paper from a pad with written instructions, and send her home.

"Katara, you didn't log in at the pool in two weeks except for one day. Those weeks was to concentrate on your timing and form while I was away. Where_ were_ you? You cannot get to the top if you're lazing around and dilly-dallying."

"I...I was sick, Zuko. I caught something from my brother."

Zuko lowered his voice and skimmed his paper, then pointed to her latest time. "Then how is it that your time hasn't degenerated? Why is it the same...or dare I say, perhaps a smidge _faster_?"

Something in his tone frightened her, something low and deadly as if she'd step on his fragile patience. "I...don't know. I wasn't here at all."

"I see." Clipped words spat from his mouth as he ripped the paper from his notepad and handed it to her with the usual reminders. "I'll see you tomorrow, Katara."

As she walked out the doors, she swore she could hear a biting hiss of _"Prodigy."_

* * *

Zuko never went easy on her. Her muscles always ached, and she never dared to rest, even when he stepped out. He never used a whistle like Pakku—his commanding, subtle tone was enough. She was always tired and tried to eat as much as she could throughout the day.

She soon began to realize she couldn't visualize her underwater peace anymore. The water was just water to her, and all she could hear and see were Zuko's glowering eyes and folded arms.

Zuko always shook his head now when she climbed out of the pool or walked out of the gym, exhausted and weary. She felt tired and as if she had been beaten by numerous clubs throughout the day. They never actually spoke—he commanded, she responded, all was silent except grunts and gasps.

* * *

"Katara, you always look so worn-down these days!" Sokka commented over making quesadillas.

"Oh, it's just...practice." Katara tried to smile, but found that she really couldn't. She focused on cutting the bell peppers into neat little cubes.

"Geez, your new coach seems like he's whipping you into shape for the Navy Seals, not the Olympics, little sis!" Her brother chopped the onions furiously and lightly skimmed them into the pan. They sizzled. "You need a vacation."

"Oh, he'd never agree to that." Katara answered, dumping her share of vegetables into the frying pan with the rest. "Besides, where would I go?"

Sokka grinned. "Are you kidding? Dad's coming home from overseas! We're throwing a party, here, on Saturday! Even Gran Gran will show up!"

Katara grinned back, relieved. "Dad's okay? Sokka, that's great!" She pictured a small cookout in the backyard, Dad and Sokka cracking stupid jokes while she laughed and rolled her eyes, Gran Gran whacking them lightly with a wooden spoon. She felt nostalgia and warmth as her mind skimmed over the recipe for stewed sea prunes...

"Yeah, I know! Listen, sis, you have to just get _one_ day off. Just one. Come on, it won't be that hard."

* * *

Katara took one look at Zuko's face Monday. He'd say no, she thought. Four more days passed, with the lingering anger. She shouldn't be scared of her coach. She should easily be able to ask him if she could celebrate her dad's homecoming. It was ridiculous. She was saying this to herself when she was tossing her bag into her car on Friday.

She just decided not to tell him. If he asked on Sunday, she could say she had a cold or something. Katara squared her shoulders and drove away from the building without looking back.

* * *

"Dad!"

"Katara, Sokka! Look how much you've grown, and living all by yourselves! And Mom, you...um, look the same."

Gran Gran wagged her finger at him. "Nice try, Hakoda."

The children laughed, and Hakoda smiled when he sniffed the air. "Are those sea prunes?"

"Ooh, yes!" Sokka nodded eagerly. "Come on, let's eat in the backyard!" With that, he sprinted towards the screen door, nearly forgetting to open it on his way out. Gran Gran sighed as she followed.

Hakoda laughed. "That boy is more excited for sea prunes more than me."

"Don't be silly, Dad, he just shows love in different ways." Katara joked, hugging him.

"How are you, Katara?" he asked her as they strolled to the table, where plates of sea prunes and a smorgasbord of food the two siblings and their Gran Gran had spent most of the day preparing. "I haven't received as many emails from you. Sokka tells me you've been training for the Olympics."

"Oh," she looked down. "I'm sorry for not writing as much, Dad. I'm just really tired. My coach, he's...really strict."

He sensed she didn't seem to want to talk about it as much. "Well, you have tonight to relax. Let's eat before your brother begins gnawing on the plates, shall we?"

Katara rewarded him with a laugh and beaming smile. "I suppose we should."

* * *

She didn't except him to actually come through her gate, but as she reviewed her training, she might have guessed he'd go to extreme measures.

_"Katara!"_

"Um, Katara?" Sokka stage-whispered. "Is that another disgruntled ex we should be worried about?"

"Shut up, Sokka." Katara hissed and gasped when Zuko took ahold of her upper arm and dragged her out of her chair. She struggled, and grabbing a spoonful of mashed potatoes, hit him in the face with them as he was shouting, _"Where were you—?"_

"Young man!" Hakoda looked rather impressive, despite the lack of his uniform and a firearm. Katara was glad for his booming voice that normally made her and Sokka immediately point to each other and blame "It was her/him!"

"Let my daughter go, and tell me—what...is going _on_ here?"

"Katara didn't show up for practice today and failed to notify me why." Zuko glared at her. "I asked Pakku for her address and came here to ask her _why_ exactly she skipped out when she should be training for the Olympics."

Something went off in Katara's head. _The Olympics._ She was told that every single damn day. He was actually crazy enough to barge in on her family dinner, manhandle her, and dangle the supposed carrot in front of everyone. Looking back, she realized he had never praised her, except for that first day with Pakku. He worked her to the bone—and she had justified it with of course, it's the Olympics—but she found out she couldn't. She'd given up her friends, her job, her life, almost her family for this man who...ruined swimming for her. She missed her team, she missed Pakku, she missed the water—the fun. She should not fear him, she remembered herself, and straightened up.

"How _dare_ you!" She realized she was in a public area and that the neighbors could hear her, but the burning in her chest needed to be unleashed. "I worked my _ass_ off for what? To please _you!_ Not for me! To do this sort of thing, you have to do it for yourself, and guess what—I am not doing it for me! I am sacrificing all of this—" she swept her arm around the table. "for a _jerk_ like you! I don't even _like_ swimming anymore! It used to be something I _loved!_ It used to be something I did with my—"

She almost gasped, as memories of her mother nearly overwhelmed her, nearly choking her, as if she were drowning, but she shook them off angrily and went on tearing at him.

Once she went going, she didn't stop, not noticing the semi-horrified faces of her family and her own angry face and fist still clutching the spoon she'd used to hit him with. She knew everything about him—his stats, his family, his whole story. He used to be her idol! Ha!

"...And you know what _I_ think?" She snarled. Zuko was actually stepping back. Poison was lacing her words. "You are just a _pathetic_ man! You surround yourself in all of these medals and fame and cut yourself off from everything to...to...forget _your_ own family! To forget _your_ life!"

She knew she had went too far, but Zuko wasn't stopping her. No one was. He wasn't fighting back. He looked as if she had pushed him off the diving board, stones tied to his hands and feet, and all he could do was sink.

"...And you think I will walk back in there tomorrow and pretend this never happened? Well, I have news for you!...I..._I quit!"_

"Fine." His voice was softer than usual, but he looked at her, really looked at her. "I will not see you tomorrow, then. Good day...Katara."

He quietly stalked out of the backyard, shutting the gate behind him as Katara stared after him with tears running down her face in wild streaks.

* * *

_This will be continued in tomorrow's prompt, Change. _


	4. Chapter 4

_This is a continuation of the earlier prompt, **Potential.**_

**4. Change**

She hadn't seen Zuko since that night.

Katara had stolen back to the pool in her everyday clothes, then to the gym. She dared not to ask other residents where he was, though. It felt like a surrender. She wasn't even quite sure what she would do when she saw him. She wasn't going to apologize, that was for sure. Maybe.

* * *

Katara, after her new job, usually spent her time walking around or reading in the library. Her brother liked to comment on now being able to actually chat without her yawning after two minutes. Sometimes in the evenings, she went for jogs with Suki and Toph, who didn't speak at all about her failed Olympic "adventure." She wrote to her dad more and even got to chat with him, sort of face-to-face on the computer screen, with Sokka. She told herself she'd never been happier.

But she felt a tingling in her limbs. She was bored. She needed...

A smile curved her lips. She started a small list in her head...

* * *

Katara threw her towel aside and splashed into the water, loose hair swinging as she paddled around and spun like a child again. She giggled, held her breath, and did a few careful front-flips and handstands. The girl floated and twisted in the middle like an otter, laughing as the water rolled off of her and stuck to her hair. Underwater, she threw her goggles in various places and swam to catch them before they hit the bottom. She tried running around the pool as much as she could, giggling at her foolish attempts.

The water seemed to respond to her mood as it lapped playfully at her skin and swirled frantically as Katara attempted another silly stunt of game, her shrieks of laughter filling the still air of the pool. She was diving into the water, light flickering underneath—Katara could easily pretend she was in the imaginary coral reef, searching for treasure among the bright colors and flitting fish. Coming back up for air, she immediately stopped, the smile sliding from her face as easily as water did from rock.

Zuko was watching her, bare-chested and a towel slung over his shoulders, in his swimming trunks. She never actually considered him swimming outside of practicing and competing, and those days were over for him. They locked eyes.

Option One was to duck her head under the water and wait until he was gone. This had the consequence of drowning, or Zuko diving in to save her. _How trite._

Option Two was to haul herself out as quickly as possible and run for the locker room. Of course, she ran the risk of slipping on the wet floor and either cracking her head on the slippery concrete or, again, having Zuko rescue her.

Option Three was to stare stupidly like a caught fish and wait for something to happen. This posed no death situations. She did so.

He smiled awkwardly at her, which looked like a peculiar thing on his face. Now that she thought about it, she had never seen him even crack a grin when he won any of his medals. "I...have never seen you like that. Or...with your hair down."

"Well," she coughed in an affected tone. "that _is_ a bit of your fault."

Zuko looked guilty now, and she felt an ugly twinge of pride. "I know. I'm...I apologize. I shouldn't have pushed you. I look back now, and I see that you never really wanted to train."

_"What?"_ Katara narrowed her eyes.

"No, not like that!" He sat down at the edge of the pool, cross-legged, and Katara swam over towards him, hair streaming all over like a curious fishwoman. "I thought about what you said, about competing for yourself, and thought back to your face the first day, when Pakku was doing all the talking. Remember?"

She nodded.

"You didn't seem...very excited. Did you...really want to do it? Did you ask him? Sign up?"

"No," she looked down. Her reflection was wavering in front of her eyes. "Pakku called me in after practice. He said I had great talent and potential. It was sort of...set-up. He had practice arranged and everything."

"I see." He ran his hand through his hair slowly and with a sigh. "Why didn't you tell me, or Pakku that you didn't want to go for the Olympics?"

"Well, I did, a little," she admitted. "But I never really thought of it until Pakku talked to me. Then you showed up for my second practice, and there was this huge deal of you, an Olympic swimmer being my coach, coming here to train what apparently Pakku thought was his best student, and—" she sighed, wishing she could sit down. "it got out of hand. I...couldn't give up, and I couldn't disappoint Pakku...or you."

There was silence after this.

"What are you doing here?" she finally asked after he didn't respond.

He smiled again, which again, looked odd. "Why, swimming, of course. To calm down." Zuko shrugged and added, "And to look for you."

"Oh." Katara finally got out of the water, in case he was going to swim like he said he would. Besides, it was awkward trying to talk to him from the pool. "Well, I'm here." She wrapped herself quickly in her towel and picked up her clothes.

Zuko put his feet in the water and swirled them around a bit. "Look, I want to talk about this. How about tomorrow at six? I'll pick you up from your house. Wear something nice."

* * *

"You're taking me to a pivate gala for Olympic champions _and their students?__" _Katara snarled, considering how much time it would take to take off her high-heeled shoe and hit him over the head with it. She would have considered throwing herself out the ridiculously nice limo if it hadn't been speeding over what she was sure was over the legal street limit.

Zuko fidgeted with the candy bar she had refused in his hand, looking uncomfortable. "Well, the invitation was technically sent out weeks ago, and you _were _training under me then. Did I mention coming is sort of socially required?"

_"You bastard," _Katara snarled. "I _quit,_ don't you remember? The least you could do is take me out to a nice restaurant, since I went to an idiotic amount of trouble getting ready."

"Too late," the driver called, almost cheekily. "we're here."

"Thanks, Jee." Zuko responded, getting out first and holding the door open for her. Katara refused the offered arm and stormed out the best she could in her shoes and cleanly-pressed dress. Her "escort" sighed, quickly shut the door, and grabbed her hand.

"Look, I told you we would talk. We only have to stay a few hourse. Please?"

Katara yanked her hand out of his. "Only a _few _hours."

* * *

She recognized many faces that had made their way into her newspaper clippings collection. The trouble was that 1) they didn't know her as well as did, and 2) she was immediately struck by shyness when entering the massive ballroom, decorated by colorful swags of fabric, waiters in tuxes holding silver trays of finger food, a shiny dance floor, and _crowds_ of Olympians chatting together in expensive clothes that made her nicest, dark blue dress look like a simple rags.

Zuko, however, did not have such problems. Not only was he infuriating at the pool, but he also managed to do so in this party. He was smooth and easily gliding around the room with her numbly following and munching on delicate pastries or rich appetizers, chatting up old friends and shaking hands with their new students. The trainees were either intimidated as her or very aloof, so they did not speak or only muttered two-word phrases if she ventured at conversation. She gave up and resolved that since this was probably the fanciest thing she was ever going to go to, she was going to try to sample as much as the food as possible. _Wouldn't Sokka be jealous._

She was currently hooked on the shrimp toast, currently in a moral dilemma to whether steal one of the trays and be mistaken for a waitress outside the dress code or follow the waiter and be pinned as_ the girl who spent the night stuffing her face_. She was reaching out for another as she pondered this when a thin, smooth hand plucked the one she was touching and popped it in a grinning mouth.

"Can't get enough of those, huh?" the young man cocked his head as Katara quickly brushed the crumbs from her face. "They're my favorite." He stuck out his hand. "Jet, by the way. I don't believe I've seen you here before."

"I'm Katara," she answered softly. She knew him. He was the star of her bulletin board before Zuko Agni came along, and when he and Zuko had to compete together, he always fell at second place, something by mere milliseconds. He always seemed a bit arrogant, but had a smoothness and what Gran Gran called a _debonair _quality that made a typical jock-star attititude look classy and elegant. Jet had a shockingly bright green tie paired with an otherwise normal tuxedo, with the famous brown hair tumbling into his gleaming eyes. She found herself blushing.

_"Katara,_ what a beautiful name." Jet commented, grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter. "Now, tell me, who is your coach? I do wish it was me."

He was really turning up the charm, huh? "My...coach is Zuko. Zuko Agni."

"Ah!" His eyebrows rose. "Zuko doesn't normally take pupils. How did he come by you?"

"I, my old coach recommended me to him. He knew his uncle."

Jet nodded as if he had known this already. "What luck you've had, then. He's only taken one student before, and she quit after seven long years." He leaned so close that she could smell the spice on his breath. "She's training under _me,_ now."

Before she could answer, the music started up, a simple tune with mainly flutes. He smiled, then put his glass down on a nearby table. "Care to take a turn with me, Katara?"

"Would your...student mind?"

"Psh, no, she'll be fine with it. Come."

He led her to the middle, where he easily taught her through the simple steps. She hoped she didn't look too out of place.

"Zuko is an interesting man, wouldn't you agree?"

"Er, yes. He...is."

Jet placed a hand on her waist and twirled her a bit. "An interesting man has an interesting story. Details you wouldn't find from mere interviews or Wikipedia."

Katara's curiousity was pricked, but she was wary. "Why would you be telling me this?"

"You are his student; I thought you ought to know." he brushed her fingers with a thumb. "For example, you've noticed his impatient manner and temper, have you not?"

"Um, yes." She said lamely, with a wan smile. He chuckled.

"No worries, I've seen enough of it when we...competed together. He is so much like his father, he fears."

She stepped to the left. "Ozai? The man who owned Agni Incorporated?"

"And made off pretty well, exploiting his workers, working with mafia bosses, and other illegal practices." Jet stepped to the right and raised his eyebrow. "Zuko has the story like the Joker's so-called one, except it's _real._ But his mother, that's a mystery. He refuses to talk about it."

Katara flashed to the painful scar covering half of his face. She'd often wondered _how_ he'd gotten it and found herself shuddering on the crowded dance floor.

"Is that why he donates so much to associations for child abuse and such?"

"Exactly. They're close to his heart, unlike other celebrities who just put a little in to show off supposed goodwill. Mai didn't understand that, he told me. She only cared about winning, smart girl...you can't really let feelings get in the way, especially..." they jumped to the side. "if your coach _fancies _you."

"Mai, is that her name? _Your_ student?"

"Ah, yes...it's a wonder why she and Zuko didn't get along; they're_ so_ much alike. But she's more subtle, more cunning...you have to _really _dig deep before you get to know her inner flame." He smirked, and Katara felt something roll in her stomach.

"Um...that's nice."

"It is," Jet commented airly. "But enough about relationships past. Let's talk about you."

"Me?" He was spinning her around, dipping her slightly under his arm.

"Yes, you, silly goose." Jet brushed a hand over her lower back. She wasn't quite sure if it was part of the dance or not. "Tell me a little about yourself."

"Well, I..." Before she could start, the music stopped, and someone else, a familiar hand, was grabbing her wrist.

"Jet, mind if I take her off your hands?" She bristled, but didn't glare as Jet smoothly handed her over to Zuko: "Why, she's very pleasant company, but if you insist..."

He was leading her soon out of the ballroom and into the limo.

"Hey, what_ gives,_ Zuko?"

"I thought you wanted to leave as soon as possible, if you were finished swooning over Jet." The car began to drive.

"I was _not _swooming. Where are we going? I don't think we were there even two hours."

He ignored the last part. "Just a nice restaurant, like you_ said_ you wanted to go."

_"Instead_ of the gala."

"Don't be picky. Let's eat, if you hadn't stuffed your face with those dainty little foodstuffs already."

* * *

"So, why did you pull me away from Jet?"

"I prefer him not to spill my secrets to you. Those are the ones_ I_ wish to tell myself."

"Oh." Katara drank from her glass of water. "There is one thing Jet didn't tell me that I really wanted to know."

"What is that?"

"You explain one word to me, and why it bothers you." she leaned forward. _"Prodigy." _

Zuko clenched his fists into the tablecloth. "You _heard _that?"

"I did. Tell me."

"Azula..." he murmured, staring off into the space behind her. "My sister. She was the best at everything. If Jet told you about the sort of family I had, then you know I didn't have a _great_ childhood. Made it worse when your father favored your psychotic little sister."

Katara listened.

"She got the best grades, was captain of all of the sports teams she wanted to play, head of the newspaper in high school...name it, and she was probably that. Everything the best also went to her. Clothes, gifts, schools, scholarships...except swimming."

Zuko swirled a finger in his water glass. "My mother and I used to swim together at Ember Island, our vacation home at the beach. Azula did, too, until one day, she almost drowned. A wave carried her out to sea. My mother called for a lifeguard as she was swimming for her. Azula almost didn't make it. She was lucky. But since then, she wouldn't _touch _water. She pretended, though, that she was _too old to play in the waves, _but I knew better. I decided to do swimming in middle school to freak her out. But, what do you know? I was good at it.

"Not _really _good, mind you. I had to practice. But it was an excuse to stay away from home, earn approval from my father. I got older and decided, as you pointed out that night, to escape from my life by using it. I eventually made it to the Olympics, and the rest is history."

Katara stared at him as he ended it: "I'm glad, though, that I found a way to get away from my home. But some things remind me of it. You did, and I apologize for treating you so harshly. Now..." Zuko shrugged, waved his hand for the bill of two waters. "I'm not sure what my purpose is."

* * *

Katara sat next to him in the wide seat as they headed for her home. She closed her eyes, sat back.

Tonight had been a strange night. She'd learned a lot of things that altered her perceptions of Zuko Agni. He was a jerk. He still hadn't quite moved on from his childhood. She wasn't sure how to think about it and didn't think she was in the right position to judge him.

Tomorrow, she'll start small. Rejoin the swim team. She'd have to explain to Pakku all that had happened, but she really missed her team. She missed swimming.

She needed to sort out a few things, first, though. Maybe she _could _go for the gold, if she wanted to. But that was her choice.

* * *

_It may be Katara's choice, but it is also YOURS! Would you like to see Katara be in the Olympics? Vote on my profile and/or tell me in a review!_


	5. Chapter 5

_Sorry, folks, this is NOT the Olympic AU. But have no fear...Coach Zuko and his...erm, absentee student, will be back for more adventures tomorrow on __**Day 6: Desired**__! Since Katara will go for the gold (thanks to all who voted!), the next chapters will deal with her journey and learning more about Zuko! In the meantime, scroll down to read..._

**5. Serenade**

"Republic City will be completed in a week!" Aang announced with an eager grin. He had shot up quite a lot over the years and started to grow a beard, but Katara could still see the endearing childish delight in the wide smile.

The Gaang, seated in one of the Fire Palace's courtyards, cheered. Sokka started to pour some of the fruit juice for a toast, Toph punched the air, Suki laughed, Katara grinned and laughed, and Zuko smiled. Finally! It was_ perfect!_

"Thank Agni," he muttered to Katara soon after in the office, scratching out his signature onto yet another document. "I'm glad about the whole idea of Republic City, but I wasn't so much about the added paperwork."

She kissed his cheek. "You worked very hard for years, Zuko, with everyone. You should be proud."

"I am," he answered softly, pulling her onto his lap. She squealed in surprise and nearly tipped over the ink bottle, and Zuko chuckled. He shifted her so she wouldn't prise through his desk again. _A dragon and a phoenix, circling each other on a silver moonstone..._

"I couldn't have done it without you," he said, nuzzling her neck. She giggled at the sensation.

"Oh, posh, you could have. I just stopped you from slacking so much that the city would take longer than the _icebergs_ to melt to build." _A purple ribbon..._

"More like _you_ distracted me." Zuko rolled his eyes. "Ugh, it's three. Time to see those delightful noblemen."

She stuck out her tongue, and this would have led to more fun, except that his page knocked on the door and asked him if he wanted help with his formal robes. Zuko sighed. He couldn't wait for the day until _Katara _could legally place the Fire Lord regalia on him before he set off for the throne. But first, _a perfect setting..._

* * *

"So that is why we should have more recreational areas in the Fire Nation," Katara concluded. She still stood, nodding her head slightly as a noblewoman hummed a pleasant tune underneath her breath.

Fire Lord Zuko nodded solemnly to approve her speech and turned to the rounded Council table. "Very insightful, my...um, Lady Katara. Are there any objections for Lady Katara's proposal?"

A nobleman stood up. Zuko inwardly sighed, but settled his features into a patient mask. "Nobleman Zhu. What is your concern?"

"Forgive me, my lord, but is Lady Katara suggesting that we set aside valuable assets for..._play?"_ his tongue twisted around the word as if it was a rotten part of a fruit that he desperately wanted to spit out. "The Fire Nation has much too many fertile lands for such trivial matters."

Zuko resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose, but Katara stepped in before he had to say anything. "With all due respect, nobleman, I had said that confiscated lands, such as one that two nobles are fighting over and will threaten bloodshed over and that our Fire Lord does not want, will be used. And they are not merely for _play. _They can be used for that, yes, but it is important to be physically healthy. It is also an economic benefit, which I also covered in my report."

"I do not think would be helpful to the environment..." Zuko clenched his fists.

"If I did not know better, I would think you dozed off when I was speaking. I will not answer any more of your concerns that were clearly outlined in my proposal." Katara's tone was perfectly haughty and gentle, and Zuko was fighting the urge to smile when the nobleman sat down, and Katara turned to him.

"Ah. Now that the resistance is smoothed over, let us vote. All in favor?...good. Majority stands with Lady Katara's proposal on recreation areas in the Fire Nation. Next topic will be updates on Republic City, trading with the Earth Kingdom, and internal disputes. Meeting adjourned." The nobles stood, bowed to the Fire Lord, and headed out. Katara was slowly packing away her papers into a neat folder, and she smiled when she saw him descending the steps to the throne.

"That was not too bad."

"Ever since you became my girlfriend instead of those spoiled nobles' daughters,_ someone_ always has to pick apart anything you say nowadays."

"They were doing that before we got together, Zuko. It's been three years since; you should not be surprised." Katara tied the foldier with a red ribbon. "Shall we head off to lunch? Tomorrow, we're going to check on Republic City."

"That's tomorrow? The time has passed by so quickly..." Zuko's hands shook as he opened the door for her, the knob sliding under his sweaty palm, and she mumured a quiet _thank you _when they headed out into the hallway.

"Well, Aang and Sokka wanted to go earlier, to explore before the opening ceremonies."

"What will we do there?" Zuko asked casually, tugging at his robes.

Katara shrugged. "Walk around. Have dinner at a restaurant. Your uncle wants to open a Jasmine Dragon there, if there's room."

Zuko rolled his eyes jokingly. "If it were up to Uncle, the treasury would go to making sure that every city, or town for that matter, would have a teashop. Come on, let's eat in the garden." He had something _else _planned in mind besides merely sightseeing in Republic City...

* * *

"Katara, you forgot one of your waterskins in my office! Do you want it?" Zuko opened the door to her room and shook his head.

It was empty, unwanted clothes and belongings strewn everywhere. It looked like last-minute packing to him. He smiled fondly and went to lay her waterskin in her leather knapsack.

He nearly tripped over something going out the door. Cursing, he picked it up. It was a new, glossy magazine journal the printers were churning out since the access to the press was now cheaper. It looked like a typical noblewoman's style, bright and bold characters proclaiming _The best accessory for your new bag! _and _What NOT to wear this summer! _with a tall, bouncy model posing in a dress, preening on the cover. He smirked. Who knew this was Katara's style? He flipped through it absentmindedly; Appa wouldn't be taking off in a while.

_What is YOUR romantic dream? _it gushed. Zuko frowned, looking at the checked-off options. It was a small quiz, the answers upside-down, but the intention was pretty clear. He needed to make some changes to his plan...

* * *

"Wow, Zuko, the statue looks great!"

"Don't thank Zuko!" Toph crackled her knuckles. "Thank me and my team of Metalbenders and Earthbenders from the Beifong Academy! We helped!"

"And we financed it. It was a gift." Zuko explained to Aang, who was wiping away tears from his eyes.

"It doesn't matter who did it. It's...it really means a lot. Thanks, guys."

"You saved the world." Sokka pointed out. "You sort of _need_ a statue at this point."

"Sokka, you're killing the warm, fuzzy feeling in my stomach."

"Sorry, Toph."

"Wow! That looks great! Toph, look at the Probending arena!"

"It looks magnificent!"

"I know, I thought the dome added a layer of sophistica...you know, I hate it when you do that."

Everyone was then laughing as they got off of Appa.

"Come on," Katara squeezed Zuko's hand. "Let's go exploring!"

* * *

"Sokka, how did you _break _a Cabbage Corp car? I'm pretty sure we've seen that guy before, too..."

"Look, it's not my fault that it can't withstand metal poles!" Sokka defended himself. "Besides, he should have warned me how fast it could go."

Suki sighed and patted him on the head. "Sweetie, let's not destroy the city we've worked over ten years to build, okay?"

_"Ah!_ That reminds me!" Sokka waved the bartender over and whispered something in his ear. The man nodded and scurried off.

"Sokka, please tell me you didn't order a ridiculously expensive lobster-steak again." Katara sighed as she slurped some seaweed noodles from the broth.

"Katara, have more faith in me. I got something better." The waiter came back, this time with six small, golden cups filled to the brim with golden liquid on a tray. He set the tray down, and Sokka rasied a cup. "Sake!"

"Sokka!" his sister scolded.

"This won't be like the cactus juice," promised Sokka as he motioned for everyone to pick up the alcohol. "Zuko, come on!" Zuko quickly stopped looking at the clock over the door and seized a cup. Even Aang wrapped his fingers around one, although he was sure the monk would toss it in a plant later on.

"To friends! To family! To completing Republic City!"

_"Hear, hear!"_

Everyone drank.

* * *

"So, why did you name it Republic City again, Sokka?" Toph asked, ready to see more of Sokka's antics.

"Cause...Ah...wanted to...it was suuuuccchh a catchy name! We'll remember for...years...to...to...come!"

Suki groaned. "Sokka, this just isn't your night."

Zuko pushed his drink away quickly. "Katara, why don't we see some city lights before we get some shut-eye?"

Katara raised an eyebrow. _"Okay._ See you guys around!"

"See you, Loopy Girl! _Ha!_ She has loops in her hair, gettit?"

"We get it, Sokka."

Katara sighed as the night air hit her face. "I love outdoors, don't you, Zuko?"

"Mm-hm." Zuko's hands were shaking again. He tried to steady his vision and put a hand in his pocket.

"So, where are we going?"

"Err...to a place you'd like." He grabbed her hand as they turned a corner.

"Why, that's specific." Zuko tripped over a rock and cursed when he nearly brought down Katara with him. "Zuko, are you okay?"

"I...I'm fine!"

"Sure, you are..._oh_...are we going to the park?"

"...Maybe?"

"Zuko, it looks so lovely at night. And these lanterns! _Wow..."_ She sat down at a fountain and smiled, hand trailing through the water. "This is amazing."

As Katara was admiring the sights, Zuko pulled out a loose stone from the street. Inside the crevice was a little radio, courtesy of Sokka. He quickly hit the ON button, waited until it began to crackle, and stood up.

A pleasant tune started winding through the small area where they were at, twanging strings and a gentle tune that reminded him of a wind's breeze. Katara began to stand up: "Are there _musicians _here...?"

Zuko cleared his dry throat, and hurriedly before he lost his nerve, began:

_"As I was walking_

_down the boulevard..._

_I caught_

_a glimpse_

_of striking eyes..."_

Katara was staring, open-mouthed, at him. Zuko flushed. Didn't she like it? He continued, his voice, pleasant and steady, though still shaky:

_"I was lost_

_she..._

_helped _

_meeeeee..._

_To find_

_my..._

_Heart..._

_that was lost..._

_in Republic Citt-tty..."_

She was standing up. Zuko's heart raced as he fumbled for the tissue-wrapped package...

_"She gave me a map..._

_to find my heart..._

_My heart is lost in Republic City today..._

_But not for long_

_I found the girl_

_I've been waiting for..._

_Oh, lost..."_

"Oh, Zuko!" she was rushing towards him, arms open. Zuko quickly freed the surprise from its confines and knelt.

"Katara, will you do me the honor..."

"You're _drunk!"_

_What?_

Katara was shaking her head as she "helped" him up. "I _knew _things were weird after you wanted to go for a walk at eleven o'clock at night, then I had my suspicions with your uncoordinations. But, oh, _Zuko!_ If only I knew about the sake...I am going to _kill _Sokka for this! Spirits, I know _you_ would never do such a silly thing like _sing in public_...let's go to bed; you can sleep this off before the ceremonies..."

Zuko's mouth was flapping open like a fish yanked out of the water by a fishing hook to its gills. _What in Agni's name..._ In the back of his mind, he noticed that the radio was still playing. His wits were scrambled, shot, and stabbed. Katara was now _shh_ing him as he stupidly clutched the engagement necklace in his right fist, the purple tissue paper lost in the wind.

_"Serenading_...Tui and La, you really need to lie down."

* * *

It was tomorrow morning when he found out that it was _Sokka's _magazine he'd been looking at.

He cursed words he didn't think even Toph knew as Katara kept sneaking him worried looks throughout the day and kept dosing him with horrible hang-over tea, brewed espeically for him and Sokka. And he _still _hadn't proposed.

* * *

_Yeah, I made up lyrics to "Lost My Heart in Republic City." I figured it would be a cheesy, but sweet song. Unfortunately, it depends on which speed you sing this at (if you want to try this out), so you might notice my rhythm is a bit off. Ooops! I chalk it up to Zuko's nervousness. _


	6. Chapter 6

_And, we're back to the Olympics AU! I can't believe how much support this particular one has gotten, and you all have inspired me to expand this! (the original was only going to be two prompts) Thank you all!_

**6. Desired**

"Excuse me, but may I speak with Katara for a few moments?"

The swim practice had jerked to a screeching halt, despite that Pakku hadn't blown his whistle. Katara considered once again dunking her head under the water and never pulling it out when her teammates gaped, drool almost escaping from their lips, as Zuko Agni stood right before them, under the bright flourescent lights. Pakku was even gaping, but he nodded quickly. "Yes, yes. Katara, go see him." Finally noticing the stupified faces of his well-polished team, he immediately snapped back to action. "What are you doing! Five laps, now!"

Before Katara had fully clambered out of the pool, she had noticed her normally intelligent teammates, before obeying Pakku's order, were whispering the obvious as she followed Zuko out the door to the locker room:

_"It's Zuko Agni."_

_"It's Zuko freaking Agni."_

_"Oh my God. I am going to faint right here, in this pool. It is so him."_

_"I wish I had my phone to capture this moment. Zuko Agni standing right here. Wow."_

_"Look at that nice ass."_

Katara could not resist what all humans could not...curioiusity. She hadn't exactly gotten to get a nice peek when she was carrying sandbags or treading water. Submitting to her base desires and the unintentional command, she looked.

Her inner demon purred and licked its lips. In horror, she was opening her mouth to comment, a glitch in her faulty, possibly perverted, feminine mind, when she grabbed a metaphorical club and smacked it soundly over the head.

But she inwardly shrugged as Zuko looked behind him to make sure she was following. It _was _nice.

* * *

"Is this another gala I'm forced to attend with you?"

Zuko did not look pleased at her jibe. "No. But I got...this in the mail today." He handed out a thick sheet of paper with an indented, gold seal at the top with scripted, bold, black words running thorugh it. Katara seized it in a mixture of anger and anticipation when the word _Olympics _caught her eye. She held it carefully away from her dripping form and began to read, ignoring Zuko's heavy breathing and shuffling. Only a few choice words stuck out in her head properly, and she had to reread them several times before they fully were enrgraved in her memory: _Congratulations, compete, swimming event, confirm by next week, best wishes, Olympics. _Water was forming a puddle on the concrete floor, but she could only stand there numbly.

"What part of _I quit _do you not understand?" she finally got out in a half cry, half gasp.

Zuko looked suitably tense. "What was I supposed to think? You told me two weeks ago you would think about it, then you rejoined your old swimming team! I see you practicing by yourself a lot during the week! _Again, what was I supposed to think?"_

"You are _supposed to think_ that _you_ were going to let_ me_ make my_ own_ decision about this!" _Great, we're fighting again. We ought to make a schedule._ "I don't want to do this; I've decided! It's my life, and you are _not_ my coach anymore, Zuko!"

"You _really_ are going to throw this away?" Zuko gestured furiously to the paper in her hands. "You do know you will have to start over_ again_ if you decide to do it after the deadline!"

"You _ass!"_ _Great, a mental image. Not the best time for it now!_ "Let me make decisions about my life, because it is my life..._oh_! You're not making this come out right!" She threw the invitation at him anti-climatically. It was pathetic, really, but she was too worked up to care at the moment. "I will not join the Olympics!"

"You say that now, but..."

"But _nothing!_ You stay out of this!" She turned to storm off, but her foot suddenly _slid_ right from underneath her, from the puddle that had formed on the slippery smooth concrete. Katara gasped, breath caught in her throat in that split-second, right before Zuko's arm enveloped her and pulled her close.

She inhaled a sweet, but sharp scent, like pumpkin spice candles, and felt his muscled body underneath the loose jacket. Katara groaned inwardly. His arms and hands were on the small of her back and winding around her waist. The chlorine-scented water was soaking into his clothes.

Zuko shoved her away as fast as he could, but gently, so he wouldn't have to catch her again. His face was red. Her face was, too.

"So you don't injure yourself." He coughed, too on cue to be real.

"I'm still not competing, Zuko." Katara turned, this time more carefully, and walked off.

* * *

"So, Sugar Queen, you have the address. Why aren't you writing the rejection response right now?"

"Toph, I'm still deciding."

"I see."

"Please, no more blind puns again. I can't take it."

Toph snorted on the other end. "All right, fine. I'm just saying. You now have six days left to...decide. You keep telling Hotpants _no, _but I hear you turning that paper in your hands."

Katara quickly set it down, spooked. "It could be _any_ paper, Toph...wait—" She paused, calling back Toph's last line. _"Hotpants?" _

"Well, yeah. You know I can't see—thanks for your sensitivity, by the way—but I hear people describe him. Tall, dark, handsome, cliché."

"Toph..." Katara sighed and rolled over on her bed. "That's really not the point right now—"

"Ah! Dodging the question! The first sign of infatuation!"

"Toppphhh!" Katara nearly whined. The phone beeped. _Call waiting. Thank God._ "Listen, hold on. I have someone on the other line."

"Whatever, Sugar Queen." Her hand couldn't hit the button fast enough.

"Made your decision yet?"

_"How did you get my number?"_

"Pakku."

Katara swore loudly into the phone, hoping it would make his ear bleed. "Stop bothering me! I said no!"

"Have you mailed it yet?"

"Why don't _you?"_

_"Some_ part of it has to have legal proof of your identity, like your signature—"

_"Ugh!"_ She hung up on him, wishing Toph wasn't on the other line so she could slam the phone with violence.

"So, who was that?"

_"No one."_

"Hmmm, anger. Perhaps unresolved sexual tension?"

"Toph, I _swear—"_

* * *

"I told you...no more galas!"

"It isn't a gala...it's a luncheon."

"I said no!"

"It isn't official until you've signed the rejection notice. Which isn't mailed, I presume?"

Katara resisted the urge to kick him as hard as she could in the shin. "You better have that limo ready."

* * *

"Um, I'll have the uh...um, number twenty-two." Katara said, giving up on pronouncing the French dish. She had never taken French in her life, but Zuko, apparently, either did or had ordered French food so many times that his voice flowed out smoothly and almost liquid-like. Katara sighed, then took another sip of water. She prepared for two hours of boredom and fingered in her purse for that book she'd snuck in.

Jet was right next to her, with a tall, pale woman on his left. "Tell me, Katara, how have you been?"

"I've been...fine." Katara said awkwardly, dropping the paperback. It landed in her bag, thank goodness. Luckily, Zuko was engaged with chatting with June, another swimming coach and champion. "What about you?"

"Excellent." Jet reached past her to grab a breadroll, then whispered in her ear: _"But I have been denied your company, so not so much."_

Katara nearly dropped her own roll and fought her blush. "Uh, that's nice." She tried to give out that she was responding to Jet's audible statement, not the sneaky one, but it failed when Jet covertly shot her a wink.

Zuko then placed a hand on her knee, and she jumped, this time—her knee banged against the mahogany, and she gasped in pain. Others turned to stare, and she looked down.

"Are you okay, Katara?" Zuko asked her kindly.

"I'm fine." Katara smiled weakly, then took the opportunity as she grabbed another roll, taking a cue from Jet: _"Do not touch me like that."_

Zuko looked confused. "I was just trying to tell you that your food is arriving."

Katara glared at him, despite the crowd, her cheeks now as red as apples. "Do you know nothing—" The bowl of fish stew was delicately slid right underneath her nose, so the smell distracted her long enough for Zuko to quicky dig into his _ratatouille _and another small dish of a French soup whose name she couldn't pronounce. She couldn't scold him now, so she decided to eat.

"Tell me...Katara?" Katara looked up. Jet's partner for the afternoon, his student, was staring at her with golden eyes almost like Zuko's, but darker. "This will be your first time competing in the Olympics?"

"Um, I..." Katara dunked her bread into her soup. "Yes..." She hoped Zuko didn't take that as a real answer.

"Hm." Mai, the woman, looked her over. She was thin and tall, and her glossy black hair swirled around her shoulders pleasantly, but her eyes were critical. "Good luck."

"Uh, thank you." Katara didn't feel as if Mai really meant it, but she nodded weakly.

"Zuko, I've barely seen you." Mai continued. "How are you?"

Zuko looked at her with an unreadable face. "Well. You?"

"Well." Her eyebrows raised, as if to say _I can play this game too. _"I find it odd that you're coaching again."

Jet was leaning forward and ignoring his _foie gras._ Katara was sure something was about to happen, but she wasn't quite sure what. June, the lady Zuko was talking to earlier, was also looking, along with a few others.

"Yes." Zuko glanced at Katara. "Katara is a wonderfully talented student. She works very hard, but she also has natural talent."

This seemed to prick a barb within the woman. "Even so, I bet you work with her often."

"She can pace herself without my chaperoning." His tone was even.

"So you don't spend a lot of time with her?"

Zuko was now furrowing his brow at something secret implied in her tone. He looked at Katara again as if for assistance.

Katara took the plunge. "We spend time in each other's company."

Mai's eyes were latched onto hers now. "I see. I do hope you don't make the same mistake as _I_ did, hanging around him so long."

Katara realized she'd fallen into Mai's trap and had made a huge _faux pas, _as Zuko's ears were turning as red as her ccheeks before, and Jet was smirking as if his partner had scored a point. Zuko was now making a distinct effort to eat his meal again, then gulping down wine. She stared at her ex-coach's past in the face and said clearly, "You are terrible." Mai was opening her mouth, but Katara cut her off. "I wish you luck, and I do hope that you're a good competitor. Zuko, come on. We're getting our lunch to go."

* * *

"She's normally not like that." Zuko was saying as they were getting into the limo. "Only when she's intimidating new competition."

Katara stared at him.

"It used to be funny." he said, sitting with his lunch neatly packed in a box on his lap.

"Hm. Fun." She turned away and faced the window.

"Thanks for...trying to help."

Katara sighed and stretched out her legs. She felt warm when his gaze immediately swerved towards her skin, then quickly back to his feet. She felt airy as she answered, "That's a stupid apology, but I'll take it."

Zuko was now glaring. "It wasn't an apology!"

Katara smirked, crossed her legs. "Consider it one."

* * *

She didn't mail her letter.

* * *

_Continued with **Pride **tomorrow. _


	7. Chapter 7

**7. Pride**

Katara didn't tell Zuko right away about her decision. She knew he'd be disgustingly smug about it. Oh, and she needed to set rules to make sure that he wouldn't go too crazy on his new regime as her official Olympic swim coach.

_Rule #1: No "I told you so's"_

Zuko didn't call her to question her if she'd mailed the "no, forget it" note to the invitation. She now almost wished he would call—it would have been easier to tell him where his surely confident smirk would make her recant her choice. Unlike him, she didn't have his number, and she doubted she could easily find it. Katara supposed she could ask Pakku, but decided not to. Pakku, from the day he'd recommended her to Zuko, had wanted her to "go for the gold," so to speak, and he had given her mournful looks during the past few weeks that reminded her of an old dog who had a particularly tasty treat snatched away from its nose. He would be smug, too.

Katara hung around the pool casually, sometimes late after her practice. Perhaps he'd turn up.

He didn't.

She went to the gym. While chatting up the clerk at the desk, she managed to glance down at the sign-in sheets for the last couple of days on his desk. Zuko's name didn't appear. Katara ran a few miles to vent out her steam and wandered around until someone asked her if she needed help looking for something.

This was getting her downright annoyed. He was probably doing this to mess with her. Well, she'd show him! She could train without him!

* * *

Training by herself was weird.

She pushed herself, true, but she really didn't know what _really _she was doing. Was her form the best so she could successfully go the fastest? Could she apply something to not strain herself? The wall, how, exactly, was the best way to push off of it? Should she keep her knees bent or straight or in the middle? And her arms! Suddenly, Zuko's constant what she called "gripes" about her form, technique, speed, or endurance was something...useful. Katara stopped, crashed onto her back to float, and groaned in frustration. Another advantage the...arse that over her!

The pool was strangely quiet as she swam for a few hours, then slowly got out.

* * *

"All right. Once you hang up, you are going to call Pakku, ask for Sparky's phone number, and beg him to take you back."

"Toph, you are _not_ helping me." Katara threw her heads up, pacing around her room.

"Yes, I am." She could imagine Toph ticking of the reasons as she said them on her fingers. "First, you just accepted competing in the _bloody _Olympics. The worldwide contest of strength, might, and power. You're the rookie, and you do not know anything of what to expect. You've only been training with Zuko, before, few months. That is not going to cut it. You told me you had no hint of what you were doing right or wrong at practice. You need someone, Sugar Queen. Like it or not, it's Zuko. And by the sound of things, he'll be willing to step up again."

Katara would have gaped if her friend had been standing there. "Okay. Point taken. But..."

"Sugar Queen, you have flaws. You're motherly, stubborn, impatient, hot-headed...and prideful. Here is my advice."

"I know, I know." Katara sighed, cradling her worn invitation to the Olympics in her hands. "Talk to Zuko."

"Yup. Before you get even _worse_."

"Shut it, Toph."

"Kidding, Sweetness. I'm rooting for you."

* * *

"So...I know we have had our troubles...but I want to be your student again. But you can't boss me around. I mean, you're my coach, so you _can_, but you can't treat me like...uh, gah. Okay," she peered upwards, palms sweaty. "I...uh..."

She shuffled her feet. Silence. "Okay. Okay. I need your help. Don't smirk at me!" She slugged the stomach and panted angrily. Still no response. "Alright, fine! I _demand_ you be my coach! I command it!"

"I accept your proposal, Katara."

Katara gaped at Zuko Agni, who was right behind her the whole time she'd been monologuing to the training dummy. She glared at him, eyes blazing in indignation, opening her mouth, about to tell him he could take his acceptance and _shove_ it...

He then engulfed her in a hug so powerful that was felt swallowed up in his arms, nearly gasping for breath.

"You stubborn, stubborn girl," he shook his head, then pulled away. "I thought you'd really quit on me. For good, this time."

Katara squared her shoulders. "Don't be stupid, Coach. Let's get to work."

* * *

_Sorry it's bit short; the next one will be longer!_


	8. Chapter 8

_Not the Olympics AU again! (Sorry) It will be back tomorrow, and Zuko and Katara's Olympics story will officially **end** with Prompt 15! Sorry, guys! Anyway, please enjoy:_

**8. Prejudice**

When Katara first folded over the red swaddling cloth to reveal their child's face, Zuko swore, right then and there, that he would have a happy childhood. His wife often talked of such a childhood during her pregnancy: she had always felt safe and content among the huge extended family known as her tribe. Even though she was the only Waterbender, no one had put any unneeded pressure on her. They always included her in festivals and games, treating her like a daughter. Some tried to even tell her about forms and techniques of past Waterbenders and showed her some basic moves, moving their arms rather clumsily to mimic the moves their old friends and family members had done. They loved her, and Zuko had felt that, certainly, when he visited the Southern Water Tribe.

They had problems right away, though.

Katara had given birth to a son, one who looked Fire Nation...except the bright blue eyes. The Sages swore that the boy would be a Waterbender, so the snobbish members of the nobility dropped hints of _trying again __for a better one_, which made Zuko's blood boil.

Tradition called for naming the child after three days, and that had been a struggle. Ridiculous! Katara and Zuko had finally settled on Roku, a good Fire Nation name, but Zuko bet on his crown that no one had read the secret history of the previous Avatar or knew of his mother's lineage.

Katara, of course, came under fire, so to speak, when she chose to follow her tribe's traditions. She refused the nurse, especially (the noblewomen gasped) the wet nurse. Lady Tailang, trying to be presumably polite to the Fire Lady during a monthly tea, said it wasn't _proper_ for the highest-ranking lady to lower herself to such a...crude, barbaric custom. The ladies had clucked about sagging breasts and basely pointed out her "poor, black and blue" bags under her eyes.

Roku was a well-behaved baby; he hardly ever was fussy (as Ursa claimed Zuko was) and slept soundly at night. Zuko liked to hold him underneath the shade of the tree near the turtleduck pond, admiring his curiosu eyes and wide mouth and small nose. His little hands waved around, trying to catch leaves that were tossed by the humid wind, and his thin fingers curled inward and outward as if testing them out. He gurgled and cooed, which made his father wonder about what he was trying to say. He was already squirmy, his legs fighting against the blankets.

"He's so small," he once marveled.

"Well," Katara had teased him. "He_ is_ a baby." But she'd kissed both of them and nuzzled under her husband's arms under the shade of one of the pavilions.

They had one large scare: when an assassin had knocked out the guards with fire whips and had managed to actually get close to Katara while she was holding Roku. Katara was not used to fighting one-handed, trying to shield her child while blocking the fireballs with water from nearby cisterns. Roku, of course, had began to cry loudly in fear. Luckily, one of the guards had managed to wake up in time and burn the assassin's feet, causing him to stumble and giving the Fire Lady enough time to freeze him to the wall.

Zuko tried his best to comfort his wife (with fail) when she tremblingly held Roku, telling her that all Royal Children were always in danger and recalling the time a servant (who had not actually been a servant) had left him poisoned fireflackes at age four. But inwardly, he shuddered in fear and ordered the watch to be doubled. She'd been attacked when she was pregnant, with sharp knives and hidden poisons, but..._who would hurt a child? _

Katara didn't like it, since the war was over, but as soon as Roku was deemed old enough, Zuko had him training with Piandao with swords. A Prince should never be unprotected.

* * *

Roku was enjoying himself very much. He had managed to give his guards the slip, who dogged his every step since he could remember. His mother and father were at a boring meeting with some ambassadors with Aunt Toph. The weather had a pleasant breeze, despite the always scorching heat, and he was especially enjoying the wind while running along the rooftops. He liked making the guards chase him, while they tried their best to be polite (and failed), and tried to clamber up the roofs. He was very good at climbing, which was a useful skill.

His mother was appalled when Captain Jee had first reported it and had glared when his father snickered under his breath. For some reason, he could swear she had shaken her head and muttered "Like father, like son" under her breath, but he'd never gotten why. He'd never seen Father climb before.

He'd slid off the roof and carefully landed on the balls of his feet on the ground. Roku would have cheered, but then his guards would have recognized that and clambered after him. He rolled his eyes and proceeded to sneak back into his room to pretend as if he'd been studying _The History of Fire _the whole time.

"Hello, Prince Roku."

Roku froze, then turned. He nearly slumped in relief when he saw it wasn't one of his guards, but Admiral Ku.

Father and Mother didn't like the admiral, though, but he never saw much of him. (He didn't really pay a lot of attention at Court functions, and he really wasn't expected to go a lot just yet, since he wasn't yet of age to be officially named Crown Prince and be forced to attend meetings.)

"Afternoon, Admiral Ku." Roku answered politely. He quickly adjusted the crown on his head.

The admiral's face shifted, somehow. "What an interesting trick you did up there."

Roku felt pride swelling up in him. "Thank you, sir."

"Why am I finding the Prince running along the rooftops like a common vigilante?" the smile vanished from his face. "Should he not be practicing his weapons, as a proper heir should?"

"I was...refining my agility." Roku lied. Perhaps the man would tattle to Father now.

The plucked and crooked eyebrows rose. "I see." He stepped forward. "How goes your swordsmanship?"

Roku felt as if he'd eaten a rotten piece of fish and hadn't yet known it, but _should. _He was involuntarily stepping back. "Very well, I thank you."

"Swordsmanship." The man repeated. He was stroking his chin rather oddly. "Why, back in my day, the heirs were Firebenders. Even the...weakest was."

_Something isn't right this. _"Well, ah, you never know. I could be." Roku turned as if to go. "I must go to my studies now."

A hand clenched around his shoulder, and Roku quickly slapped it away as a reflex. He whirled around, his shoulder still slightly aching. "What are you doing?"

"Perhaps you aren't a bender." The admiral continued. "Your mother might have put out the Firebending in you."

Roku's eyes narrowed. Now he was figuring out why his parents didn't like that guy so much. "I don't _have_ to be a Firebender."

"Of course." The golden eyes narrowed in return. "Perhaps a Waterbender, with _those_ eyes. Perhaps it's better to not be a bender at all."

"You will not speak about the Fire Lady in such a disrespectful matter!" _Now_ he wished he had his guards. Then he'd...do something. Arrest him? (Could he do that?)

_"Half-breed."_ The man reached out. "You should have died in your mother's womb, with the poisoned spider-snake venom in her barbaric sea prune stew."

Roku spun around and rolled as fire whooshed over his head, then yelled for the guards. The nobleman had lost his cool edge and was tossing flames at him.

_If only I had my swords. _He was dodging everything now, the trees above him on fire, setting off smoke. That was good. That would make someone come.

He threw himself to the side, then kicked the admiral in the stomach. The man swore and took the opportunity at the close promity to punch a hot hand at his face.

Roku screamed, then fell, waving his arms in an attempt to break it. He felt something like rain droplets and a different scream, then nothing.

* * *

"Roku! _That bastard..."_

"Shh, Zuko, he's waking up."

"I will _kill _Admiral Ku."

"Roku, Roku, open your eyes."

Roku was able to, and he was embraced by his mother.

"I was able to heal your face. It won't scar," she assured him, then froze. Her husband kissed her forehead, shaking his head, and clasped Roku's face in his hands.

"Captain Jee was able to come, but he found that you had the situation under control. You froze the...man to the ground with water from a nearby fountain."

_I'm a Waterbender. _This only filled him with a dull ache, no excitement.

His mother was taking over the story. "Jee arrested him, on the charges of trying to...assassinate the prince. He brought you to the hospital wing, and I took care of you. Your father interrogated Ku, but wasn't able to get the story out of him. Can you tell us, sweetheart?"

Roku haltingly explained as his mother gave him small sips of water and ordered some food. When he got to the part of the spider-snake vemon, his father stood up and fire clenched around his fists. "The _stew!...Katara,_ when you were...he confessed it. I wasn't able to...he must have paid off or threatened the cooks..._that_..."

Roku watched as his mother calmed him down, the fire soon dying from his fists. _Your mother might have put out the Firebending in you..._

* * *

"Roku," his mother knocked on his door. "May I come in?'

"Yes, Mother."

The Fire Lady swept in, crown still in her hair. She sat down next to him on his bed. "What happened today was scary and frightening. Would you like to speak about it to me?"

Roku shook his head.

"I'll tell you something." his mother smoothed his hair. "I was not welcome here. I'm still not. What matters is the people who care about you." She sighed. "I sometimes wish that you were born in the Southern Water Tribe. Things would be different. That...would never have happened. But, you live here. We do. And we need to be strong. You and me, we're Water Tribe."

Roku hung his head.

"Don't _ever_ be ashamed of that." Mother scolded him. She stood up. "You have to come to terms with it. It will be hard. That thing can and will happen again. Prejudice happens, and it will always be ingrained in our world. You are a Waterbender. You are the son of the Fire Lord. It's a contradictory thing, and people are scared by something so different."

"Do you mean repulsed?"

Something shook in her face, and Roku was almost sorry that he'd lashed out like that.

"Perhaps, Roku." She closed her eyes. "Perhaps."


	9. Chapter 9

_I've gotten a few questions on Zuko and Katara's ages in this AU, so I might as well try to explain it here (though I didn't do, I confess, a lot of research on the Olympics for swimming). The retirement age is around forty, Zuko would have kept going on until he couldn't. I can assume he was training Mai afterwards, so...maybe, then, early fifties, really late forties? There is no minimum age requirement, really, but Katara has to be young-ish to get a start, so...hm...mid-twenties to thirty. (shrugs) I tried not to make Zuko too old for Katara, but I think when you're older adults, age really isn't a huge issue. Besides, our pair is very fit and attractive...they look younger than they are. _

_I got this idea from rereading _Life of Pi. _Truly amazing book; I fully recommend it. _

**9. Sublime**

"All right, no! No, no, no."

Katara paused right in the middle, visibly annoyed as she shoved the goggles over her head. "What do you mean with your multiple _no_s?"

Zuko sighed and wrote something down on his clipboard. "Your form is _really _off."

"You could have just told me _Katara, your form is off _instead of bellowing at me!"

"I was not _bellowing_ at you—"

"Oh, you were—"

"Okay, okay, that's enough!" Zuko groaned, nearly throwing his pen into the water. "No more arguing!"

Katara raised her eyebrows.

"For now," Zuko confirmed. He rolled his eyes. "We should waste no more time bickering. The point is this: your form had gotten sloppy. And you _must_ correct it."

"My form has gotten me to Point A to Point B in better time than yesterday!" Katara countered. "What is this—swimming or figure skating?"

"The referee will notice that your form is shaky and unsatisfactory and will point it out." Zuko paced carefully along the pool's edge. "It will also, as you quoted: get you _to Point A to Point B in a better time_."

Katara glared at him, still treading water impatiently in the same spot.

"We need something that will get you to realize how important this is!" Her coach gestured passionately with his arms, his pen this time really falling into the water with a soft _plop. _He didn't notice. Katara watched it sink to the bottom as he continued. "You are obviously indifferent to this—thinking there is no need for his lesson. But I will show you with—"

"More excercise drills?" Katara dryly interrupted, though inwardly cringing in dismay.

"No." Zuko put his hand to his chin thoughtfully like the famous statue. He closed his eyes, then smiled slightly. Katara stared at it, wondering what was going on inside his sadistic mind. More laps around the parking lot until she conceded defeat? Hours of rotating her arms or holding them stiffly in an uncomfortable postion? A full day in the pool while he shouted what was wrong with her technique every five seconds? A...

* * *

_"...Zoo?"_ Katara stared, open-mouthed at the subtle, but neat sign. "You're taking me to the zoo?" The sun was blazing down on her safari-looking hat, and sweat was already beading at her forehead.

Zuko nodded in all seriousness, binoculars around his neck and dressed in comfortable civilian clothes (a transparent tank top, and he was sweating) with sunglasses. Katara continued to gape when he paid the fee and opened the gate for her. _No wonder he told me to wear sunscreen and a hat... _She felt something stare at her backside as she bent over slightly to grab a pamphlet. _Guess he didn't count on the shorts. _

"Have you not been to a zoo before?" Zuko asked her, noticing her still-open mouth and bulging eyes as he selected a map. "Should I explain a few rules to you? For starters, do not feed—"

Katara snapped out of her daze. With animals, there were flies, so she better close her mouth..."Is this a joke? A field trip to the zoo? For my Olympic training?"

Zuko looked slightly annoyed, then was pushing her by her lower back to look at the diving seals into the cool, refreshing water. "No. I'm being serious."

"So, what are we going to do?" she answered sarcastically, sweeping her arm dramatically over the wide range of cages and fences. "Take notes on their habitats? Examine their diets? Or perhaps take notes on whether they walk on two legs or four?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Zuko scoffed, handing her the binoculars. She took them in startled hands, and he raised them to her eyes rather gently, despite his tightly clenched hands and tight frown. "For example, look at the seals. Watch as they slip into the water, with hardly a sound."

Katara hated to burst his bubble, but she did. "Humans aren't built like pinnipeds."

"What?"

"Seals," she explained, with a slight smirk. Zuko tried to secretly peek at the nearby sign, but the corner of her mouth quirked upwards. "It's not on there."

Zuko tried to once again take control of the "lesson." "See how it _expertly_ dives into the water and _smoothly_ swims—"

"Seals don't really worry about form. They have certain characteristics that help them swim they way they do. For example, their sleek and barrel-shaped bodies, flippers, conserving oxygen for two hours, perhaps their secretion of—"

He glared at her, which strongly resembled the wrinkled, grouchy walrus the next exhibit over. Giving up at the mere look at her readiness to counter with more of her knowledge of seal facts, he led her over to the fish stand to feed them. He scowled as she cheerfully tossed the small fish into their barking mouths. They were very hungry.

* * *

He tried the same thing, persistently, with the manatees, otters, penguins, small sharks, and even a squid. All resulted in Katara defeating his purpose with her vast knowledge of marine animals. This had him dangerously close to crushing his expensive binoculars as Katara calmly stood by, eating her strawberry-lemon ice, as he pointed furiously to the shallow pool made of gray rock and a small waterfall. She had already participated in the activity as Zuko had stood by like an angry bodyguard who doubled as a butler (he conceded to carrying her backpack).

_"The stingray—"_

"Spends all of its time in water. They swim by undulating their bodies like a wave or flapping their sides like wings. Unlike humans."

"Your girlfriend is very smart, young man," an older man commented as his child peered over the edge of the touch-tank to gently stroke said animal with two fingers.

Zuko went off, fuming, muttering words that were not appropriate for the small children in the area. Katara shook her head, throwing away her finished treat in the appropriate container.

* * *

_"The lion—"_

"Is not even a marine animal. Perhaps we should have visited an aquarium?"

Zuko slumped onto the nearest bench and cursed more. A grandmother nearby gave him a disapproving look and moved her grandchildren away from them.

"Forget it. _Forget it_. We should just have lunch in that cafe over there and go home."

Katara sighed. He really did look very disappointed. She sat down next to him and patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry I ruined your lesson plan."

This, for some reason, made him fist his dark hair in his hands and clench his jaw. "Katara..." Zuko looked up, his hooded eyes facing over her shoulder. She turned around.

"Those are flamigoes. Flamingoes—"

He groaned again. She shook her head. It was just too easy, like being sarcastic to Sokka (he _always_ thought she was serious).

"Look, Zuko, I was kidding. Come on, you can show me the...lions."

"No!" Zuko hit his forehead multiple times with his hands. She was mildly alarmed by this. He never broke out of his calm facade. She began to stroke his arm, much like the petting of the stingyrays. "It really wasn't about the animals. Or your form. It's really gotten better."

This made her stop her hand in mid-pet. _"What?"_

"I..." Zuko was looking down at his shoes. "I know I've been harsh with you, and really infuriating. I wanted to take you out for some place nice, and I didn't think another lunch or gala was appropriate—"

He waited for a laugh. She was still staring at him in complete disbelief, mimicking the beginning scene when they first were approaching the zoo.

"And...I wanted to impress you. That was pretty stupid, I guess. But I wanted you to have a fun time—"

"Oh, I _did—"_

Zuko looked dismayed now. "Not like..._that._ Not making a _mockery_ of me. Not by _laughing_ at me. Not—"

She kissed him. For the first time in weeks, he was quiet.

Perfect.


	10. Chapter 10

_Thank you for the response of Katara and Zuko's ages; as you can tell, I'm not too apt about the Olympic-age thing. Sometimes I enjoy authors who have everything planned out even if it's not shown, and sometimes I think a more ambiguous setting. In this case, their ages are not "canon," so to speak. _

**10. Affliction**

"You. Are. Sick."

"Thank you _(cough cough), _Coach Agni. Truly _(hack) _I would be _(achoo!)_ lost without your wisdom." She sighed, wishing she hadn't let him in. He was now tidying up the "clutter" in her room, which included tossing her clothes into the laundry basket. She was lying helpless, entangled in cozy blankets, as he violated her personal sanctuary.

Zuko did not look amused. "Katara, how in the world did you get sick?"

"I have a _(cough!) _brother who participates in _(cough!)_ martial arts that involves contact with other guys. Need I say more?"

"Why isn't he with you?" Zuko swept his hand at the empty house, except for Katara lying in bed with tissues, cough medicine, a spoon, aspirin, and a book on her nightstand. A small trash can was nearby.

"Comic Con."

Zuko's good eye twitched. "He left you for approximately three days _alone _to _attend a mediocre—"_

Katara raised her head and brandished her spoon at his face. "Do not _(coughcoughcough)_ go on with that sentence. It was bad enough _(hack! hack!)_ I couldn't go because of my training."

"For the Olympics," Zuko felt inclined to point out.

Katara rolled her eyes as she flopped back onto her pillows. "Three days of rest won't _(achoo!) _kill you. Besides, I told him he should—" she wiped her nose quickly and tossed it smoothly in the trash. "go. He _trusted _me, because _(achoo!)_ I am _old enough_ to take care of _myself—"_

"I'm just helping you. You need to get well—"

"Because now the flu will potentially cripple me and my chances for _ever _winning the gold." She coughed furiously, reaching for a throat lozenge in her drawer.

Grabbing the small capsule and unwrapping it, Zuko handed it to her with a steady frown. "Katara—"

"Look. All I need is _(hacking cough) _rest and lots of fluids. I've come to a conclusion that you are the reason for my stress. Half of it is for the Olympics, and half of it is for something else. _Achoo!"_

"Something else?" He had finished with the laundry basket and moved on to straightening her bookshelf. She felt like screaming, but that would make her throat worse. Why did his controlling attitude have to extend to her room?...wait, that sounded wrong. She pulled her head farther under the covers, minding that the cherry cough drop didn't slide into her throat.

"Two words. It was solved by the zoo _(coughcoughcoughcough) _kiss."

Zuko paused for moment, hand still on _The Hobbit. _His ear turned red, and Katara watched in satisfaction as the rest of his face followed with a quiet "Oh. _Oh."_

"Mm-hm."

He shook his head, stepped away from her books (Katara sighed in relief), and stroked the damp hair away from her head. "Is arguing a thing of ours?"

She would have kissed him if she hadn't been coughing up phlegm that morning. "Yes, Zuko. Get used to it."

He bent over her, and she felt light pressure on her forehead.

"Zuko,_ don't._ You'll get sick." She shook her head weakly.

"Hey, you're the priority here. Not me. If I have to, I'll coach you from a waterproof laptop in the pool."

"You know I could just, theoretically, _(achoo)_ switch it off."

"And you won't,_ theoretically_, know what you're doing right or wrong."

She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Mature. Real mature. I'll just make you some tea."

* * *

"Zuko, are you supposed to be a rival teammate in disguise? I swear—" she coughed furiously, this time not from her illness. "this is _poison." _

Zuko slumped as she handed the full, steaming cup of tea back to him. "I'm sorry. Uncle says it's bracing."

"Too kind of that man." She shook her head. "Did you use the tea bags in my cupboard?"

"No. I thought homemade from scratch—"

"Use the teabags, Zuko."

* * *

"Katara, why are you watching a movie? What is this? You should be sleeping!"

"Hey, I paid for it! Let me watch it!" She tried to wave him off, but he sat down with her on the edge of the bed.

"Is this..._Toy_ _Story?"_

Katara stuck out her lip and pouted petulantly. "I had a nostalgic feeling in my stomach."

"I'm sure you're just going to throw up again."

"Charming, Zuko. Now shut up." She closed her eyes as Zuko's fingers moved through her tangled brown locks.

* * *

She did end up vomiting over the toilet and holding back her hair as "You Got a Friend in Me" cheerfully played along with the credits. Zuko stayed on the bed to watch.

* * *

"Zuko? Why is there a strange old man in the kitchen?"

"Oh, that's Uncle Iroh."

"Your uncle? Who owns the Jasmine Dragon?"

"Yeah, Uncle's tea can cure anything, I swear—"

"So you dragged him from his business _that helps him make money _to make me tea? How _crazy_ are you?" This outburst caused her to dissolve in a small coughing spasm. Zuko gently patted her back, but she swatted him away.

"To be fair," Uncle Iroh said as he was taking out some of the leaves from an odd travel bag that could be folded into a mat and was neatly organized with different roots and leaves. "My shop closed half an hour ago."

She stared stupidly at both of them and held her head in her hands. "Zuko, I—" She shook her head. "Both of you are _nuts!"_

Katara stomped off, as well as she could in a rat's nest of bed head, a red and runny nose, weary eyes, and a polar-bear studded robe with fuzzy slippers shaped like penguins. Zuko watched her go with a fond smile on his face.

Iroh handed him a far superior brew of hot, soothing tea. "You've got your hands full, nephew."

"No, I don't." Zuko grabbed a small plate from the counter and carefully set it under one of Katara's blue-swirled mugs, starting for his charge's room. "I don't at all."


	11. Chapter 11

**11. Intimacy**

Katara would describe their relationship post-zoo-field-trip and sick day as...the same.

Well, okay. They weren't kissing before.

Not that she was necessarily complaining. The point was strictly confined to one thing: uncertainty. They had, on a physical level, admired each other. Their small arguments went like clockwork and were never really taken seriously. There wasn't something she could put her finger on, but when he stared at her while she was warming up, quietly going through her laps and drills, she felt something quiet but there, like wind brushing against bare skin. When they sat together, she inhaled his smell—like pumpkin pie with extra nutmeg and cinnamon and something else that was Zuko—and felt peaceful (until they started bickering).

The thing was, however, like wind, she never knew exactly where it came from or which form it exactly would take. She didn't know his boundaries, the line that she'd possibly overstep that make him relapse into the uncomfortable silence that she always identified with his telling of his family. She didn't know what truly made him happy—for example, what he would like for a birthday present—and felt as if it was something she couldn't give. Sometimes when he stood beside her, she felt small and uncertain like a child.

Zuko's touches were always tender, delicate, and faint, as if he was afraid of the age-old cliché of breaking her. He brushed his fingers through her hair as softly as petting a newborn kitten, kissed her cheek or lips as a butterfly gently landing on a flower does, and nothing felt solid and warm and Zuko—passionate, firm, strong.

Perhaps it was dating her coach, like dating a teacher or other authority figure who should be respected and always known as such. Jet had said Mai and Zuko stopped dating, and she could see the complications. What if Zuko were being too complimentary and was trying not to hurt her feelings? What if they had a terrible argument and it hurt worse than the last one and he stopped coaching her? She played this game many times and always lost.

"Katara." His voice broke into her thoughts, and she realized she had been swimming around the pool for a very long time while Zuko kept calling her name.

"Sorry, Zuko. Should I transition onto—"

"No. Come here, Katara."

She did, looking up at him. He sat down, feet dangling at the edge, plunking gracefully into the water.

"What would you like to do for my birthday, Katara? It's this weekend, and you look very tired."

"Oh. It's your birthday, Zuko. You pick."

"Give me a suggestion then. I'll take it from there."

Katara shrugged the best she could while keeping herself afloat the water. "Dinner. It doesn't have to be fancy. Something you like. Relaxing."

"Good." He leaned over and pecked her nose. "Now, let's try beating your last time."

* * *

Katara took more time getting ready for the dinner than with the gala and luncheon combined. Her sleeveless dress was Zuko's most frequently worn color, red—so she assumed it was his favorite—with gold rising up on the edges like waves or flames. She had pretty gold ballet flats covered with patterns of random swirls and twisting gold earrings with a small diamond in the middle with two gold bangles on her right wrist. Her mother's necklace, as always, was on her neck. Her hair was down, curled in more outlined and neat waves.

Zuko followed all of the steps that possibly came from _How To Treat Your Date: Greeting, Meeting the Family, and Date Night Gesture Tropes_ before speeding her off in the limo.

"Your dress looks lovely," he complimented. "It's perfect for our menu tonight."

She smiled at his slightly awkward last sentence. "Spicy food?"

"Indian, to be precise."

"Ohh," she said in surprise. "I've never really had Indian food. Except some curry."

"Curry is very good," he commented. "But you _must_ try some_ idli_ or perhaps _sambar_."

* * *

She decided to order one of the items Zuko recommended, _sambar._ Zuko had ordered a mixed plate for both of them and also _kofta_ for himself. He smiled at her from across the candlelit table. They made small talk and played with their hands. Zuko didn't seem to know what to do with his birthday, and she didn't know what to do at a formal dinner. _Figures. _

She then gave him a present she hoped he'd like: a (faux) gold pen with a dragon carved to make it look as if was curling around it and a Barnes and Noble gift card. He turned the pen in his hands to admire the detailed work and carefully put it back with a genuine thank you. The gift card was much appreciated, even though Katara had anticipated that wouldn't have been the show-stopper of the night.

He kissed her over the table, mindful of the candle. "Thank you, Katara."

They started a conversation on their favorite books when Zuko mentioned he'd use the gift card sometime soon, when their food arrived, piping hot and steaming their glasses. Katara put a tentative spoonful of _sambar _into her mouth and gasped.

Zuko looked at with slight disappointment. "You don't like it?"

"Zuko, I love it, but I must—" Katara grabbed her full glass of water and downed two huge swallows of it in one sitting. Zuko was chuckling as he nonchalantly ate his own meal.

"Katara, it's supposed to be _mildly _spicy. Are you sure you're not overreacting?"

"My taste buds are different from yours," she protested, but continued to eat the hearty stew in smaller spoonfuls.

The evening went without a hitch—they delicately fed each other the small snacks and sweets on the platter, while Zuko told her stories about the origin about _sambar _and various Indian mythology. She hung onto his every word and watched his hands gesture wildly in enthusiam, his eyes dancing in amusement as he recounted when elephants _did _indeed fly and how much trouble they caused. Katara laughed and ate and drank her water, which tasted like fine wine on her tongue—she was truly seeing the man she knew.

"Where did you learn all of this, Zuko?" She asked, imagining it might have been a course in college or from a friend.

Zuko looked down, took a bite of _sukhdi._

"My mother."

Katara felt terrible as the silence stretched between them once more. She placed a hand on his larger one.

"Your mother seemed—seems—"

"Katara, don't." He sighed, trying to stroke a part of her hand with his thumb. "It's okay. I don't know where she is now. She could be dead; she could be alive...but I will never know."

"Don't say that—she could be—"

"No, Katara. It hurts too much." Zuko finally pulled his hand from underneath her and played with his shirt. He plucked another _sukhdi _from the plate and handed it to her.

"Try it. It's sweet."

As Katara chews, Zuko is silent from across the table. It seems like a hundred miles away, stretching out far away from her.

"My mother loved those," he finally says. "They were her favorite, with oatmeal-raisin cookies. She also liked to take me here for my birthday."

His eyes are brimming. She doesn't need to take his hand again or kiss him or even speak his name. But a small look passes between them that will never be forgotten, that makes Katara's eyes shimmer, too, in the candlelight.

* * *

"Wow, it's late," Katara commented as she carefully carried the_ sambar_ stored in a take-home box in a plastic bag. Zuko grinned and watched his breath puff in the night air.

"It's cold," he commented with a shudder. "Let's get into the limo."

"Jee parked it this whole time? Zuko! Is he waiting for us?"

"He did park it somewhere, but he said he was going to the movies while we were out."

Katara rolled her eyes, but kissed his cheek. "Should we call him? Is he there?"

Zuko shrugged and pulled her closer. "Can't hurt to wait—"

He looked up and a look of horror came over his face. Katara glanced up, alarmed. Was someone going to rob them? Did they have a gun? Could they make it back to the car?

"My...son." A man loomed over both of them, his features almost exactly like Zuko's gleaming in the low streetlight. "Happy birthday."


	12. Chapter 12

**12. Mistake**

"You never liked celebrating my birthdays." Zuko spoke in monotone, but his eyes said eveything he wanted to say and more. Katara was still holding onto his arm stupidly as Ozai darkly chuckled back. It was exactly how one of her favorite authors described the villain, with a "high, cold, cruel laugh."

"Come on," Zuko said to her, turning his face away from his father and squeezing her hand. "Let's go home."

She mutely nodded and was just about to take a step towards the black limo when Ozai spoke again. "She's different from Mai, isn't she?"

"That is none of your business." Zuko seemed rooted to the spot, despite that his feet were starting to face in the opposite direction.

"You don't want her to see your father." Ozai mocked, and his eyes roamed Katara in such a way that she felt as if she were standing naked in the public parking lot. She shuddered internally. Zuko pulled her even closer, the bag of _sambar_ hitting her leg with a crackle.

"You are _not_ my father."

"Why don't you disown me? Why do you go by my surname?"

Zuko glared furiously. He never was good at controlling his emotions, Katara realized with a start. He tried, but there was always built up inside of him and exploded everywhere.

"Can't answer that?" Ozai stepped forward. Zuko tensed. "Perhaps you have some sympathy for your old man?"

_"Sympathy?"_ Zuko's fists clenched, and Katara nearly cried out at the sudden movement, the forcefulness of it. "You ruined my life, you—"

_"Ruined_ it?" Ozai slightly tossed his head and looked Zuko directly in the same amber eyes. "I _made_ you, boy. You were never good enough. Azula could do circles around you. Don't deny about your swimming. You never had natural talent. It was an escape, like drugs or alcohol, but not illegal or dangerous, of course—not for _Ursa's_ little boy."

Zuko's blunt fingernails were indenting into her skin. She bit back as hiss of pain. His eyes were entirely locked on Ozai's, focused and angry and something else.

"You finally became something, and yet you never acknowledged me, never said a word about your family. The press will have a field day with you if all those dirty little secrets leak out one day, wouldn't they?"

"Don't you_ dare!" _His grip loosened slightly on her hand, his palms suddenly sickenedly slippery hot.

"I don't have the pleasure of telling the press, though, since they're not here." His eyes landed on Katara. She had hoped he'd forgotten about her. "Why don't we tell your little friend right here? Get her a never-before-seen interview of the brilliant Zuko Agni?"

Katara felt herself pushed back, harshly and suddenly. She gasped, and Zuko was standing in front of her, arms slightly raised like a bird about to take flight. "No," he said.

Ozai ignored him, turning to her. "It will be a good story, girl; I _am_ a primary source, after all."

She found her voice, small but sharp like a dagger. "No. I know it. And I don't want to hear it coming from your lips, _Ozai."_

"The girl finally spoke—a little bite to her bark." he commented in a calm tone. "You know it, girl? He has told you?"

"Yes," she answered. It was half a lie.

He pounced on the half like a hawk's talons swooping in on the wekaest, slowest mouse, trying to be invisible among the plains, but making its struggles more obvious. "He left something out, did he? The missing mother? His prodigy sister? His poor performance in everything—"

_"Shut up."_ Katara snarled, hand tightening around Zuko's immoble hand. He was still and stiff and something in his core seemed to be sucked out of him with every posionous word Ozai spoke.

He continued with more glee: "His attempts to run away? His pathetic escape attempts? His scar?"

Zuko's hand grew cold. Katara backed away from him. _Stop, _she thought, but couldn't make the words come out. _Stop. _

"Oh, his _lovely _scar. He tried to tell me the _proper _way to run _my _business, the little fool. Felt a bit indignant that _a few_ families would go under, but he could _not_ see the bigger picture. His sister always knew the greater good, the best way, but _he_ was always whining and grousing. Usually, he kept it at home, but _this time _it was at one of my most important meetings. How embarrassing. What a _disrespectful_ son."

Ozai sighed as if this story was already boring him, as if he'd told this a thousand times, and examined his perfectly-manicured nails. It was a strangely sinister and eerie gesture, and Katara felt something stand up in the back of her neck when he flicked something off the end of his thumb casually and with a small _tch._ "I pulled him into the office to shut him up before he ruined everything, but he just kept trying to point out with his mediocre business experience, which was _far_ less than Azula's. Ah, the poor idiot was trying to be _professional_ and _expert, _but he was _moaning and bumbling_ _and_ _so damn irritating_. It was a chilly day, and a fire was burning in my office."

Katara doesn't want to hear this anymore. She wants to push her palms against her ears and close her eyes and sink down to the ground. _ZukoZukoZuko..._

Zuko didn't say anything. He seemed to be paralyzed, a metal claw clenching around his throat.

"He was never good in his martial arts classes. Azula always was; she never would have fallen for such a simple _push." _

He continues to talk in a detached, but oily tone, and Katara's seeing everything as if she's there—Zuko's round eyes, startled as he's forcefully shoved by a hard hand, losing his balance, falling with arms flailing in a sickening pinwheel, face turning and landing in the flames, his legs crumpled underneath him, collapsed. His _screams..._

"...were_ horrendously_ loud, and the whelp couldn't simply pull himself out—so I had to, _the ingrate—"_

Katara doesn't know what really happens next, though she pictures it later in satisfied slow-motion. She only yanks herself from Zuko's grip with a twist and clenches her fist and her thumb is around it like Sokka once warned her about and it smacks cartilage with a peculiar crunching sound like gravel being stepped on or syrofoam breaking and when she pulls away slowly, she has wet liquid dripping onto her right hand and a stinging sensation in her knuckles.

She doesn't, again, remember much, but the next thing she really pictures clearly is sitting in the limo's backseat with Zuko staring at her as if she had burst out of a chicken egg with a dragon on her shoulder and balancing teacups on her head with a halo around her hair. It's an odd feeling.

* * *

They're in his apartment—wrong, his penthouse. It's open and sparse and looks as if someone had decorated it for him. He's grabbing some bandages and cotton and medical supplies from his cabinet. She's called home and told them she's fine, but she's going to be held up a while longer.

The two sit on the very large couch, with decorative pillows and spacious cushions. Zuko examines her proffered hand and wraps it carefully. Jee is waiting in the limo so she can be driven back.

He kisses her wrapped knuckle. "Katara..."

_You know everything. _

She reaches out and touches his scar for the first time. It is velvety and rough and a contradiction. _Like him._

He leans into her touch as she herself moves forward, breath on his face, and kisses him very slowly, hand still on the scar.

She closes her eyes when he presses his mouth harder against hers. A brown curl dangles; he pushes it back furiously but gently so he doesn't bend her ear and continues the kiss.

The pillows are shoved onto the polished wood floor. Her legs are on the couch. She feels the rich fabric against her bare legs. Her dress is hot.

The couch is a nice shape and size and perfect.

Her shoes clatter to the floor loudly. He doesn't flinch. Her hair is plastered to her forehead, still.

_It'll ruin the wood..._

She kisses his bare shoulder, muscled and hard and strong.

Fabric falls to the floor very softly.

_Jee is waiting for us. _

She gasps, arches her back—Zuko clenches his jaw and buries his head into the place between her head and shoulder blade.

Katara closes her eyes.

* * *

She's being shaken. It's rather disconcerting, very quick and sudden.

Zuko is standing above her, clad in a hastily-tied robe. She murmurs sleepily and sits up to kiss him.

"No," he places hands on her shoulders. "No."

She really is awake now. She wraps the blanket now on the couch around herself, vulnerable and naked and dumb.

"What? Zu—"

"I was angry and proud and just..." he shakes his head, stands away. She's holding her blanket more tightly now. "I think...I think we should make Jee drive you home. We don't have practice today. Rest."

He walks into the kitchen. The coffee maker is hissing and grinding. Toast is wafting through the air.

She feels very alone.


	13. Chapter 13

**13. Festival**

"...So, then he packed me into the limo with the leftover _sambar _from last night and ordered Jee to take me home. Didn't ride with me. He stood by and watched it leave." Katara paused. "So, what do you think it means?"

"Well," Suki's voice speculates on the other end. "I don't have personal experience—"

"That doesn't make me feel any better..."

"_But _it sounds like he's confused." Suki plows on before Katara can get out something like _that's vague. _"I mean, you guys run into his crazy dad on his birthday; the man delivers a long, evil monologue on how he screwed up his son; you punch him in the face; then, you go to his house to get fixed up; and last, but not least, you two have what sounds like angry sex on the couch."

Katara flushes and walks to her door, checking to see if it's locked. Sokka's watching a big football game downstairs, but she doesn't need him barging in on her private conservation on the most confusing event of her life with his girlfriend. She doesn't call Toph because she _knows_ the girl who rebelled all throughout Catholic, finishing, and society schools and lessons would bluster with as many bawdy jokes as a tavern full of drunken pirates. She'd completely ignore the advice and worry part. Katara obviously cannot talk to her brother, though he may have some guy insight on this, but it was bad enough that Sokka launched a Protective Brother Inquisition when she arrived in the morning with her hair still tangled. She didn't need any more of—

"Katara?"

"Suki, for one thing, I don't think it was _angry _sex..."

"It sounded as if it was passionate, like maybe done in the heat of the moment?" Suki replies carefully but gently. "You've got to admit it was a strange situation last night. You initiated the kiss and didn't protest when he started to make _his _move, and none of you planned for that to happen. Next morning, he's waking up, naked, and wondering how it happened and if he took advantage of you somehow."

"I would have stopped—"

"He doesn't know that."

"He threw me out before we could really talk! That is _so _like him." Katara huffs and hugs a pillow close to her. "What am I supposed to do?"

She can imagine Suki shrugging over the phone. "Just have a chat with him. Maybe go somewhere fun to take your mind off things with him."

* * *

_"The Winter Festival?" _Zuko questions as he stares at the brightly colored flyer that Katara basically threw at him before she dived into the pool. He holds it up for Katara to see, as if she hadn't gone to the trouble for securing an actual glossy piece of paper for her suggestion.

"It's a fair, with games and rides and food." Katara says as she flips over on her back to relax a little as he examines it. "I go every year."

Zuko doesn't look at her. Usually he peeks a bit when she shows up in a tight swimsuit and kisses her before she hops into the pool, but he acts as if she has the plague. She pretends not to notice and tosses her head. Katara is still prideful and puts her all into her laps today, hoping that water would splash her stupid coach/sort-of-boyfriend right in the face. He's not the least bit wet. Ass.

"We already went to the zoo and...dinner. We need to train. The Olympics is in three months."

Katara begins to open her mouth, but he stops her. "I know what you're about to say. _We can afford to lose a little bit of time. I'll really work hard next practice. _But we need to be...more serious and focus more on training."

It sure _sounds _like a double meaning, of idling and fooling around instead of practicing _or _their relationship. Katara wants to shout at him, but even now she knows it's not the best way to go. He'll yell back, then she'll retaliate, and they'll continue until one or both of them storm out as dramatically as they could, almost like a contest. They _must_ chat about what happened, but Katara acquiesces to yield for a short while. He needs gentle encouragement.

* * *

"Jee, I thank you for getting him decaf coffee instead of the actual caffeine. He'll be out for a bit."

"Psh, he's a stubborn ass, miss. He hasn't changed since he was...born. I could tell you tales of his pig-headedness until the next year. Now, we're going to a festival, right?"

"The Winter one, just a few blocks down this street." Katara agrees with a smile. She pats Zuko's head on the seat lightly and leans back in satisfaction. The limo is driving very carefully, and she watches the cars pass by with a lazy air.

"What's the funniest Zuko-stubborn moment you remember, Jee?" she calls.

"Oh, as I've said, there are _a lot, _but there's one where he refused to put his clothes back on after his bath for his third birthday party—"

* * *

"...and he dived into the great big cake. He smeared it into his face in front of the lovely society ladies and gents, then threw a particularly heavily-frosted piece at Ozai, the old bastard. The whole affair, needless to say, was ruined."

Katara wipes tears from her eyes. Her sides ache. Jee is chuckling so much that he's threatening to pull over because his hands are shaking too much for steadiness at the wheel.

Zuko is not amused. He's woken up at the sound of their uproar and refuses to speak to anyone besides growl as Jee begins another embarrassing story involving mustard, Jello, ducks at the park, and innocent bystanders.

* * *

"Why don't we try this game?"

"Katara, it's rigged. The hoops are oval-shaped instead of circle-shaped, so the ball will bounce right out."

The booth vender glares at him as the crowd begins to disperse. Katara shoots him a semi-apologetic look as she leads her troublesome charge to another game. The man in a slightly rumpled apron grins, bows at her, and watches as Katara turns towards Zuko.

"How about these bottles? You can win a stuffed panda."

"It's also rigged. If the two bottles were set equally side-by-side, then the three would easily crash down when the baseball hit it in the right spot. But one, if you look very closely, is slightly off, so it's extremely hard, if not impossible, to knock down all of them—only two at most will be kncoked over."

Katara sighs, shooting another tired smile at another glowering vendor. She's almost afraid to direct him to the rides. He might start spouting out death and injury statistics on tranportable coasters and Ferris wheels. She bet that this was how he felt at the zoo.

She decides to get holiday-themed hotcakes, with cinnamon, nutmeg, and whipped cream. He begins to call out her daily calorie count and her "champion's" diet, when she subtly knocks his wallet about ten feet off the table. Zuko stares at her and runs to retrieve it before someone decides to for him.

A woman smiles down at her as she walks by with a plate of chocolate bon-bons. "Ugh, a personal fitness trainer? Those are _terrible, _very harrassing."

"Oh, no, it's worse," Katara replied dryly. "He's my Olympic coach and part-time boyfriend."

The lady stares at her with a bemused smile that drips of wanting to smile strainly and reply with a _suuuureeee... _"Ah, well. Good luck then."

"Thanks," Katara says airly as she hurries away. "I'll need it!"

* * *

"So." She's cornered him onto the Ferris Wheel. It's spinning very slowly. Zuko's peeking out the windows nervously as if considering throwing himself out. "We had sex two days ago."

"Errr..."

"And you threw me out."

"Um..."

"It was very hurtful. I had to eat a pint of chocolate chip ice cream and call my best friend to get over my grief."

Zuko looks strained now. Good. "Katara—"

"Zuko, I should have realized that you felt as if you had taken advantage of me in the heat of the moment and made a mistake in our relationship as not only in significant others, but as coach and student. _However, _you had no right to kick me out and should have talked with me if you felt insecure."

She sits back and watches him fluster. He looks green.

Too easy.

"Katara...I'm sorry." he finally says. "I screwed up."

She crosses her arms. "Mm-hm."

"I mean, I told myself when we first started going out that I wouldn't do or cause something that you would regret. I felt that I broke that promise that morning. I was angry at my father, I was exhilarated when you hit him, and I was hurt when _he _brought up...my scar. You could have continued because of...guilt. Or pity. I didn't want that, and I was...afraid I'd hurt you."

She softens and touches his arm. "Zuko, I would never lead you on or make you believe that something wasn't wrong. What we did is something we can't take back, but I love—"

Zuko pulls away from her. Before she could react, he's turning his head and upchucking out the open window of the carriage. She feels sympathy for whoever is below.

He turns back toward her and sheepishly wipes his mouth.

* * *

"You should have mentioned you're afraid of heights or something." she mentions to him. He groans and rests his tired head on her lap as she strokes his hair. Jee is smirking in the front.


	14. Chapter 14

**14. Stranger**

"Wow..." Katara gazed at the magnificent sight before her, taking in everything before she could dive right into it.

"Yup." Zuko looked slightly nostalgic as he flipped his bag over his shoulder and breathed in the clean, subtly sharp smell of chlorine. "We're here. Now, we should settle in before you get started on warming up..."

"What? I'm not talking about the _pool." _the young trainee gestured to the nearby refreshments table. "Look at _those _delicacies! Italian soda—cranberry, pomegranate, guava, pineapple! Fluffy pastries! Chocolate croissants! _Shrimp toast!"_

Zuko groaned and rolled his eyes, overdramatically putting his head in his broad hands. "At times like these, you're _so _like your brother. Speaking of which, when is your family flying over? Tomorrow?"

"Mmm-yeah." She nodded, cheeks now stuffed with shrimp toast. Her words were muffled, and Zuko was sure she'd spit crumbs into the otherwise pristine pool. He sighed, then gently spun her around and tenderly dusted the crumbly bits off her lips and cheeks. She smiled fondly at him and kissed him.

"Okay, after we settle in, I'll practice." Katara agreed. "But can we see some of the sights first?'

* * *

"And...we're live!"

"Today is practice for the Summer Olympics, and look at them go! We definitely see some familiar faces, but also very fresh ones!"

"You're right; one of the rookies, Katara Amaruq, is a rising young star, full of potential and has a particularly interesting story. It seems that Zuko Agni has moved on from Mai, taken by Jet Rico, to coach the lovely—"

_Wow, their interests are really not about the actual games, huh? _Katara could imagine her coach, who was standing nearby, rolling his eyes at the backstory banter. She took the opportunity to blow him a rather extravagantly enthusiastic kiss and bet that the commentators were eating that up.

They'd be talking more than mere _romance _tomorrow.

* * *

_Stranger (n): one ignorant of or unacquainted with someone or something_

_Yeah...this is really short. I actually had another idea for this that didn't involve the Olympic AU. But this here is just a short transition drabble of sorts. Tomorrow is **the last day **of our Olympic journey._

_Someone asked if I would continue this as a separate fic out of Zutara Month. I'm not sure if I will. I would like to expand, if I did write it, about Olympics and its trials and not just on Zutara. I'll really have to think about it, but only if people want me to. _


	15. Chapter 15

_This is it, ladies and gentlemen! The __**last **__piece of the Olympic AU! Thank you for all of your enthusiasm and support for this! Doing the separate Olympics fic is still a thiking-in-progress...I would really have to expand the story quite a bit and learn a lot more about the Summer Olympics and swimming and such. I'm pretty busy this year, but it's a maybe on my list. Any help with research and the like is encouraged. Once again, thank you so much for giving me a lot of feedback on this! Please enjoy..._

**15. Wonderland**

"Don't be nervous," Zuko smoothed the strands of dark hair back and appraised her, from her white swimming cap to her bare feet, shivering slightly on the rubber mat despite her jacket wrapped around her lithe form. "Are you ready?"

She heard the cheering echoing from down the hallway from the stands mixed in with the eager voices of the reporters. Sokka's voice could be heard even from inside what she called the "Olympic green room," roaring terrible rhyming slogans. Cameras clicked and whirled as a microphone screeched. The smell of chlorine seemed stronger than ever.

"I...I don't know." she whispered, mindful of her competition nearby. "I'm so..."

"Katara," he pressed a kiss to her forehead. "This is your first race. This is the fifty metre freestyle. You're amazing at speed, finesse, power. You made it through to the finals. You'll do wonderful."

"Five minutes, swimmers!" the intercom boomed. "Five minutes!"

"Wait," Katara grabbed Zuko's arm just as he began to lead her to her mark. "What place did Mai get on her first one?"

Zuko paused and hesitantly muttered, "Second. Silver."

She felt her chest grow cold and her palms sweat. "Oh."

He shook his head as they made their way out of the hot, small room. "Katara, don't think about it. I shouldn't have told you."

They walked into a burst of light and color and cheers that filled the large arena. She felt faint and her knees began to wobble. Cameras flashed and perople were talking a mile a minute as they walked down to her number, Katara trying to keep up a confident, if not impassive facade. She was mindful of the wet floor beneath her. There was no need to slip and potentially hit her head when she made it this far. The girl could see it on the news, the headline bemoaning _Newcomer loses chance to slippery floor. _She glanced to her right and saw Jet, smirking and striding smoothly as if walking down an aisle, with Mai with her chin proudly lifted and a slight, self-asssured turn of her lips. The crowd was cheering so much that she felt her echoes float down to shake her bones.

_Oh, God, I'm here. _Katara realized as her feet reached the edge of the pool. _The Olympics. _

"Let me help you." Her jacket slipped off her shoulders softly and she watched as Zuko carefully folded it over his arm. She gazed down at the clear, blue water, fidgeting. "Good luck, Katara."

Her throat closed. "Zuko—" She felt a twisting sensation in her stomach and something rising in her mouth.

_"Swimmers are approaching their marks..."_

He hugged her quickly. "When Pakku showed me a tape of your practice, I knew you had great potential to come here. I'm glad that you're here, that you're my student. I—"

"Coaches, _off_ the pool area!"

Zuko flushed and waved as he retreated to the sidelines. "Got to go. You can do this, Katara."

Katara crouched down, ready to dive. Goosebumps were up and down her arms.

_"They're getting ready—"_

Mai was at her side, face intense. Her black hair was neatly tucked into her white cap, her sharp cheekbones exuding seriousness.

There had been no taunts, no shoves, no tripping. Mai was too serious, too mature for that. She knew the media would play up the "romance rivals" up. Katara felt a deep respect for the girl next to her.

"Hey," said rival said, voice too soft for the cameras to catch, but loud enough to hear above the constant claps and shouts. "Heard you were pretty good. You did make it to the finals."

Katara would have shrugged if she wasn't so determined to hold her position. "Thanks. You did well, too."

An eyebrow rose. "Thanks. Just to let you know, when the US is doing the relay, we have a pretty good chance of winning first while working together." The water splashed beneath them in a small wave. "But as this is an individual race, only one of us can really bring back the gold here."

"Don't be so sure," Katara answered. "There are, after all, about thirteen other chances."

Mai made something between a chuckle and a snort. "Touche. You're not a bad competitor."

"Back at you."

"But, remember, I've been competing longer than you."

Katara turned her face back to the pool. "Remember what they say about beginner's luck."

Mai grinned slightly. "We'll see, Amaruq. Let's hope they get on with starting this before our banter becomes as tasteless as those comentators' up there."

Katara laughed, just as the buzzer rang, shooting right through her ears. She jumped, a split second too slow.

* * *

Her dive wasn't as smooth as she wanted it to be, but at least she was in the pool. The cold water shocked her, right down to her bones, but she kicked her feet and shoved her arms forward as hard as she could. She heard faint screeches and more clapping through the water. Mai was swimming hard, her arms and legs cutting swiftly through the water just a few feet in front of her. The other woman from Hungary on her left was steadily moving closer towards her shoulder.

The cheers were pounding into her ears. The water was slapping and smacking harshly, still too cold. Her hands were shaking. Almost everyone was ahead of her.

_Calm down. _

She closed her eyes, took her mind away. What did she have to lose?

She opened her eyes slowly. The sounds dimmed. The water played silvery light across her dark skin. She looked down and glimpsed colorful Olympic emblems strewn across the concrete floor. With enough imagination, they could become coral and fish. She was seven years old, her hair streaming in the water, her chubby legs kicking very gently against the glass-like surface, her arms reaching for an imaginary treasure chest. Her mother was laughing as she tried to swim with her legs locked together like a mermaid, then gently corrected her arms and tilted her chin. _More gently, Katara. Be the water._

_Be the water._

The water seemed to be flowing in and out through her lungs and mouth and nose, despite she knew in the back of her mind that she was breathing automatically in time like a heartbeat. Her swimming cap was a tad askew, but she let her hair tap her face like seaweed. The water moved gently against her, but did not fight as she carefully cleared a path for herself.

Her mother pretended often that she was a dolphin, a whale, a shark, and they raced each other. She often paddled right past her mother, giggling softly in her mind in delight.

_Just like that._

Past one, two, three, four, five.

She flipped smoothly against the wall, one of her favorite childhood tricks that she used to impress her parents and Sokka. Her hair spun gracefully as she did. She enjoyed watching that, but it really wasn't the best time.

She was ahead. Third.

Katara swam, her cap finally coming off in the water. Her hair, still in a ponytail, flowed behind her. It did not matter. She felt free.

Her hand reached out. For the first time, she realized she was quite alone. Should she look back?

Her fingers gently touched the wall.

A second buzzer sounded. The water nearly shivered.

She burst out of the water, and an explosion of noise nearly gave her heart failure as someone was yelling her name. She stared stupidly as the others came up and pushed back their goggles and tossed off their caps, staring. Zuko was gaping at her. She looked at the scoreboard, but her goggles were full of water. She shoved them away, allowing them to dangle past her neck. She looked around, and realized that her swim cap was still at the bottom of the pool. Should she get it? Or will someone else? Everyone was hollering like mad, and cameras were flashing in a frenzy, and well-dressed people with microphones were rushing at her.

_Oh. _

She dimly hauled herself out of the water, watching as the water streamed off of her heavily. She freed her hair with a bit of a struggle, trying to not snap the strands.

"Katara!"

Arms were around her, lifting her into the air. She shrieked, and presently heard faint laughter.

She stared at her coach, still in a slight daze. "How, how, did I do?"

He rolled his eyes and hugged her tighter. "Katara, you _won. _I dare say you broke a record."

"Me?"

"Oh, God, you didn't realize you—" He kissed her, hard. She laughed, startled, against his mouth as the video cameras pointed directly at them, and the reporters wrote furiously in their notepads. Katara heard a clattering sound and realized his clipboard had dropped right onto the floor. He pulled away and touched her still chlorine-touched lips.

"That one," he said as he drew away from her. "Was a six-point-oh."

She laughed, a shocked burst leaping from her mouth. "You made a _joke."_

He stood back, his jacket soaked, hands clasping hers. "Was it bad?"

"It was better than Sokka's." She told him. He echoed her laugh and kissed her again, then paused when he spotted the horde of journalists waving their hands at her. "I think you owe a few people interviews."

"Oh, no." She wailed and covered her face.

Zuko shook his head, grinning, and wrapped her in a towel. "Come on, Katara. Let's go see those scores."


	16. Chapter 16

**16. Separate**

Katara is tagged with a blue sash around her otherwise identical uniform. As is her brother, Sokka; his girlriend, Yue; the ass, Hahn; and other Water Tribe members forced to attend this hell hole.

The Fire Nation said it's for "education and refinement for the other unprivileged nations," but Katara can translate the message just fine: _civilize the barbaric nations that aren't as "fortunate" to be the Fire Nation. _

Of course, in a show of goodwill, the Fire Nation sends their own children. It's obvious this is an ultimate humiliation for the kids—having to go to a reform school for the savages instead of the prestigious Fire Nation Academy for Boys or Girls. It's also obvious that the kids are the "rejects" of the family or otherwise too poor to send to prep school—but all are not eager to make friends with anyone. They scowl. They grumble constantly. They mutter how much they despise their family, but despise this aisine school more. But they do not drag their feet, purposely fail, or laze around. They are much too prideful for that. They excell in all of their classes, classes that are catered to them—bows and gestures, Firebending and basic self-defense/weapons, Fire Nation history, language, and a special class that Katara calls "brainwashing." There is one "fun" class that they can take if they're behaved, like art or music or such, but Katara hasn't earned that privilege yet.

Predictably, the teachers are Fire Nation and take their job seriously, with Fire Nation displine. Katara and the other Waterbending healers gain a good reputation (but carefully guarded from the teachers and Fire Nation students) of healing. Every evening, during study sessions, they hold out their palms and wrists and backs for more soothing water that will soothe and mend their wounds. They wrap bandages around the afflicted area and rub scented lotion on them. They're smart enough not to proudly display the new skin.

The factions are not supposed to mingle. Fire Nation with Fire Nation. Earth Kingdom with Earth Kingdom. Water Tribe with Water Tribe. The Fire Nation decides to keep the two tribes apart, but builds their dorms close together anyway. There are no Air Nomad houses. The students have red or green or blue sashes around their waists. No one misses that the Fire Nation students are, typically, supplied with better food, housing, or clothing. Anyone who points this out gets a severe talking-to about how it's for _their own good._

There are escape attempts. Haru has tried. Chit Sang, strangely a burly Fire Nation student, has tried. The students never see them afterwards, and Katara doesn't want to know what happens to them.

Katara isn't allowed to wear her hair loops or whalebone heads or any semblance of fur or blue. She cannot speak a single word of her native tongue, lest she gets called up, her tongue yanked out by a grubby hand, and smacked with a leather whip. She knows why. Sokka has quietly joked that they would become "Fire Nation robots."

Everyone tries to maintain their heritage, but it's hard. They are being watched. They murmur their language when lights are out, talking about their day. They dress in their clothes that managed to escape the ovens and do their hair. They tell stories.

No one has gotten caught yet, because no one is foolish enough to say anything.

But the saddest part is when a voice is silent during the chorus of the time-honored legends or when hands shake when attempting to do a braid-bun. That means the Fire Nation is winning.

* * *

Katara is given a Fire Nation name, but she doesn't use it. She's called _Niu, _an insulting name which means "stubborn" and sounds very harsh to her ears. She refuses to hear anyone who uses it, and this is what gets her into trouble.

She's called in class to recite the Fire Nation oath. She shakes her head defiantly, and the teacher makes her hold out her palm for the small fire whip.

Zhao is a sadist. He likes to hear people scream.

She refuses. Tears come to her eyes, but she refuses.

"I will call the Fire Lord!" he threatens.

She laughs. Why would the Fire Lord bother with a tiny Water peasant?

Furious, he strikes her face with the whip, and everyone shrieks. Katara raises her head and doesn't flinch, even though the tears are freely running down her cheeks.

She now has a scar running down the right side of her face.

* * *

Katara is also a member of the student resistance. Her brother is the actual leader, since he's quite good with speeches and getting everyone riled up. Their ultimate goal is escape, but they're still working on it. They're careful not to write anything down.

Tonight's task is to paint the Fire Nation barracks in blue and green and orange. They haven't forgotton the Air Nomads.

The Waterbenders use the water in the makeshift paint to expertly cover the house, and Earthbenders use the earth in the pigments to make it brighter and somehow harder for it to wash off. Granted, the two houses will be punished, likely by having to scrub it off by themselves, but it'll be fun to watch the fussy authorities try to clean it first themselves and bellow at the top of their lungs.

Sokka, in a disguised voice, calls for a retreat when the first candle lights in the window. Everyone flees.

Katara is a fast runner, but she stops to pick up a newer member, Meng, when she trips and spills her leftover paint on the ground. She manages to toss her over the fence before someone grabs her arm.

She has painted her face in an ironic mask: a Fire Nation Spirit, the Painted Lady.

The boy who grabbed her has a flame-shaped scar covering half of his face. He's unusually well-dressed, in silk pajamas instead of cotton ones, which is technically a violation of the school code, but she supposes his parents pulled a few strings. He has Firebender eyes, bright gold.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"I am doing nothing my parents wouldn't have approved of." She answers defiantly.

"Like—" he gestures to the swirled walls behind him with a lit hand. "painting our house?"

"As I've said," Katara replies. "My father would have done the same."

The gold eyes narrow. "I ought to take you to security right now, Water Tribe."

Her heats stops. "How do you know?" she spits.

"You have unmistakably blue eyes." he appraises her, then nods as if confirming something.

"Who the hell are you?" she asks angrily, struggling anew. "I've never seen you before."

His eyebrow raises. One eyebrow. Peculiar.

"You honestly don't know?"

"Oooh, another snotty noblemen's son." she fires back. She notices a paint drip rolls off into the grass by the fireball still lit in his hand. Katara slowly, behind her back, lifts her hand. It's a full moon.

He chuckles darkly. "Oh, you are _in _for it now." He opens his mouth to say his name, but Katara is faster.

The blue paint hits him right in the back of his head, and he startles, letting go of her immediately. She laughs and makes her escape.

Bending (except for Firebending) is illegal, so it's _very _lucky he doesn't know her.

* * *

_Continued in_ _**Snow. **_

_Okay, I had no intention of actually making a new story arc, but there you go. _


	17. Chapter 17

**17. Snow**

"So, what do you think the special assembly is going to be about today?" Yue asked as she tied her hair back into a required Fire Nation hairstyle, struggling to hold the bun in place while she clipped the school's emblem in. She'd almost forgotten, but luckily, someone had reminded her. They were all standing very stiffly in the very large room with a platform for propaganda plays, speeches, or public punishments and trying very hard to keep the mood festive before the so-called "big announcement."

"Probably to congratulate us on our fine project last night," Hahn whispered, and everyone snickered. Katara didn't laugh as she pretended to straighten her sash.

"Psh, it's probably another _you're not trying hard enough for the honor and integrity of the Fire Nation_ speech." Sokka mimicked Lo's (or was it Li's?) gravelly, but stern voice.

"Who's mocking the noble purpose of this school?" one of the prefects came up right behind them in the large hall, and they all shrieked.

"No one," Tato quickly answered, fingers clenched to his sides.

"I see." The prefect, Hide, scanned them all. They had let their faces slip into impassivity, and he scowled at them as he rapped on his small notepad. "If I ever hear you disregard the motto of this fine establishment, I can give you all double chores for two months, you backwater savages."

"Savages!" Kita shouted angrily, lunging forward. Katara quickly pulled her in a close embrace and tried very hard not to glare at Hide, who was making a note and looking at little Kita's number boldly printed onto her sleeve.

"Perhaps this one should get triple...including volunteering herself for cleaning out the picken stalls. She'll fit right in the mud; it will blend perfectly with her skin." he laughed as if he'd made a good joke. Sokka clenched his fists. Kita was ready to tackle him again, and Katara had to use most of her strength to hold her back.

"She just got here; she doesn't know!" Yue protested, despite that her own face was redder than the boy's sash. "I'll talk to her."

He scanned her face, flipped through a little book. "Yes, Yue, _Princess _of the North. The North is a much...civilized society than the South. Your color is almost close to a true Fire Nation native."

Yue raised her chin, her eyes flashing, but her tone was cool and conciliatory. "Thank you, Prefect Hide."

"See? _Manners._ You've been taught well here." Hide leered at her, and Sokka was nearly stepped forward when Hide waved them away as if shooing away a troublesome spiderfly. "Very well. Keep an eye on Number 906...the little girl, and watch her well. If she gets into trouble, _it_'ll be your responsibility."

"Yes. Sir." Yue muttered, glancing briefly at Kita, now limp in Katara's arms. "Understood."

"Good. Dismissed." With that, he swaggered off to bully a new set of students.

Sokka scowled and drew an arm across Yue's shoulders quickly, temporarily breaking ranks. "That _ass."_

"Sokka, shhh!" Katara hissed and pushing Kita to her position with the other newcomers.

"How can they all believe in this junk?" Sokka grumbled and stepped away from Yue, who was patting his shoulder. "They actually believe it!"

"Sokka, get back." Someone shoved him to stand on his number just as one of the teachers walked by. The lights dimmed slightly as the principal took the stage. It was Zhao, who had wormed his way up the ranks to become this and doubled as one of their techers. Katara honestly didn't know why, because despite all the things he could get away with doing to the students, he still had to interact with "putrid ingrates."

"Children!" He smiled benovently at them, as fake as, well one of the posters on the wall: _Education, refinement, love of the Fire Nation. We welcome you! _"We have a special guest today to observe our proceedings at the Three Nations Academy of Good Fortune."

Sokka and Katara, on cue, preteneded to vomit at the name. Yue smirked at Sokka and quickly turned her look into complete attentiveness.

"Please welcome our esteemed," his face twisted as if he was having a contortion. "Prince Zuko, heir to the Fire Nation crown and son of the Fire Lord. Hail!"

"Hail!" the Fire Nation students called back and immediately kow-towed. Getting the cue, the other students (reluctantly) mimicked them.

Katara looked up and gulped. It was the boy from last night.

* * *

He still had the blue paint slightly stuck to his ears, hair, and neck. Katara managed a small smirk before she clamped down on it. What if he recognized her? Oh, he'd definitely tell! Her family would be punished along with her!

He was making what sounded like a memorized speech, but Katara wasn't listening, even as they rose. Her thoughts were still kicking at her head. Finally, he finished, and they filed out. Katara quikcly bowed her head as they passed the stage. Even so, she could sense that he'd find her.

* * *

So far, her luck had held for almost a day. Students were required to bow deeply whenever the esteemed Prince passed them, and Katara took advantage of that to let her long hair hide her face as she did so, as the sides pulled back not allowing her to do so while standing or sitting. _He doesn't know me; I was wearing face paint. _

Now she was taking notes for Ms. Kwan's history class. She was the picture of a hard teacher, with pursued lips, sharp eyes, and dark hair in a bun. Even though she was petite, she kept order with a sharp tongue and well-placed threats. She often boasted that she taught famous generals and inventors and even a well-known warrior, but _she, _out of the kindness of her heart, volunteered to educate them. Katara hated her.

"...Now, Fire Lord Azulon..."

Katara suppressed a sigh as her voice droned on and on, setting aside her fully-covered paper for a new piece. Her voice suddenly broke as the door creaked open.

"Prince Zuko!" Her tone turned delighted and worshipful. Katara would have gagged if she wasn't trying to be unnoticed. "Are you here to observe my class?"

"Yes, of course, I must stop by every one, and I've heard good reports of you. My cousin Prince Lu Ten was one of your students."

"Ah, yes, talented boy! You were intelligent, too! Of course, alas, you both had to go to the Fire Nation Academy for Boys when you came of age..."

Sokka was mouthing _alas? _as he was studiously copying down the last words of her lecture.

"Sit down, will you, please? Now, class, let's begin with one of Fire Lord Azulon's most famous campaign orders...the Southern Raiders!"

She held out a red flag with the emblem, and Katara couldn't help the gasp that escaped from her mouth.

"Miss Niu, what is your problem?"

_My problem? You're about to teach about the invaders who killed my mother! _"Nothing, ma'am."

"Good. Please pay attention, and do not dishonor us."

"Yes, ma'am." Katara closed her eyes.

"For starters, the Southern Raider frigates were raiding ships used by the Southern Raiders as a means of transportation to raid various sreas. Now, Fire Lord Azulon gave the order, Decree 316, to capture any remaining Waterbenders after the last raid covered in our last lesson."

_Oh spirits...it's true. I thought what the soldier said was because of panic. Oh spirits. _

"Captain Yon Rha led the campaign..."

_Yon Rha...that's his name. _Her brush began to shake as she wrote down the characters and underlined them. _The monster. His eyes were like the ashes that covered the snow..._

"This was their final raid, as they discovered the last Waterbender of the Southern Water Tribe. An older woman, whose name is forgotten. The orders were to kill..."

_Mom! She was running to the tent as fast as her little legs could carry her, her dad racing far ahead of her, calling her mother's name. Sokka was nowhere to be found. The soldiers were running, but they didn't care..._

_Dad opened the flap, then covered my eyes, but I saw in that split second...the stench, too...I think I fainted. _

_I couldn't wear her necklace for a long time without picturing it being peeled off her burned body. _

"Niu! Uncivilized barbarian, can you not use the waste bin?"

Katara lifted her arms and realized she'd thrown up all over her desk and her...herself. The notes were ruined. Sokka was looking at her sympathetically, with all the other Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom students. The Fire Nation students were laughing.

"I..."

"I'll bet twenty gold pieces you did this on purpose! And in front of our prince too!"

"No, I swear..." _That might be how my mother pleaded._

"Come up here, this instant!"

Katara trudged forward, trying to wipe the sick off herself. She wished she could Waterbend, but she couldn't blow her cover..._My mother died for me as the snow fell..._

"Closer!"

Katara held up her hands and braced herself for the whip. _Burning pain..._

"No! I've had enough of your cheek!" Ms. Kwan opened a drawer and held up a pair of shiny, silver scissors. "Gather your hair into a ponytail, and let's get this over with!"

Katara stepped back. "No! You can't!"

"You have disgraced yourself. This is your punishment."

"No! Please, in my tribe, you can't cut..."

"I care not what your backwater tribe does for their outrageous superstitions! Closer, or I'll make you!"

"Please, you can't...it's forbidden unless you're mourning...it's bad luck...someone close to you may die..."

"We will take that chance." She yanked Katara close, despite the stench, and put a chunk of her brown locks into the opened blades.

"Enough." Everyone turned to the back. Prince Zuko was standing up and walking towards them. Katara used that moment to yank free of Ms. Kwan's grip. The teacher was just able to slap her, when he raised his hand. "I will deal with her myself."

* * *

After Katara cleaned herself in the cold showers, she was sat down to have "tea" with the prince. She stared. They were very elegant pastries, such as a fruit tart, and fragrant tea that smelled of jasmine.

"Eat."

She did gladly. They were very rich and flavorful. It beat gruel with meager vegetables with a cup of water. Warm water.

"Now, what's the fuss about your hair? It is not simply vanity?"

Katara shook her head. _"No. _Women cut their hair as a sign of grief in my tribe, if a family member or close friend dies. It's bad luck to cut it outside of that circumstance. Someone close to you can die."

"What if you get it tangled somewhere?"

Katara narrowed her eyes. "If I was allowed to wear my hair in my old style, I will show you."

He nodded and tapped his fingers on the table. "I presume the Southern Raiders history unsettled you?"

_Yes, you idiot. _"Yes, sir."

"Can you tell me why?"

"My mother was killed. A lot of my friends were." she quickly added, in case they put together that her mother was the one who died, the "Waterbender."

"I'm sorry." He tilted his head to look at her. "Tell you what. I'll forbid anyone from cutting your hair and revoke your punishment from Ms. Kwan if you do me a favor."

"What favor?" she asked suspiciously. Several popped into her mind, all unpleasant.

"Actually try at this school."

She frowned. "I don't want to become Fire Nation."

"Well. You will all have to. Either you learn our ways, or else. We can keep you in school, true, but we can get tired of you wasting resources for children who want to learn. We can simply..." he casually stabs a knife into a pastry and smirks. Katara jumps.

"I am not afraid to die."

"You are afraid of your family?" Katara scoots her chair back, sweat sticking to the skirt of her uniform. "You have a brother here, and a father at home. Both are being closely watched. And I happen to know a few of your secrets."

Katara takes a sip of her tea, trying not to let her emotions show. "What of them?"

"For starters, you're one of those student resistance members. Painted Lady." He reaches forward and grabs her chin. She wants to spit the tea into his face as his fingers clench around her jaw. "That leads to a web of secrets. One, you're a Waterbender. You're registered as a non-bender here. That will be penalty enough. Perhaps a new regiment of drugs, watching, more _encouragement _to become a valuable asset to our society.

"Two, you Waterbended at me. The Prince. That's pretty hefty. I could imprison a man for simply blocking the sun if I wanted to. But this could be rewritten as an...oh, malicious prank, or an assassination attempt.

"Three, don't forget your identity as a resistance member. That is punishable by...say, your family? And that could lead to other members of your petty little faction.

"I will be watching you everywhere. You don't adhere to my generous offer, something worse than mere hair-cutting will result."

Katara pushed him away, swallowing the cold tea with a big effort, and started to open the door. He let her, laughing.

"And, Katara? I am the Prince. I always win."

* * *

_Continued in the next prompt! _

_Did you notice the number of the Decree for the raid? Reread it. _


	18. Chapter 18

_Another question of age! Katara and Zuko and all the others are the same age as they start out at the beginning of the canon series. Katara is fourteen, Zuko is seventeen, Sokka is sixteen, etc. _

_Aang will appear; don't worry. _

**18. Heat**

Katara knew fire well, even if she was a Waterbender.

When she was four, out of purely childish curiousity, she stuck her hand right into the heart of the cooking fire that was roasting their dinner of seal-otter meat. She screamed and screamed and screamed—so loudly that her mother and father heard her from ten tents down, called from their monthly meeting, and Sokka came from a game of penguin sledding on the next hill over (or so he said). As she sobbed, her mother rubbed an herbal poultice on her blistering, red flesh while her father and brother ran for bandages and more herbs. Kya had smoothed her hair back and gently chided, "Now, Katara, you do realize fire is very dangerous? Don't do that again. Don't go near it. Understand?" Katara cried, burying her face in her shoulder, and her mother had gently embraced her with care. Her wound was treated well, with kisses and more herbs and frequent cleanings. It was okay now—no permanent damage, save for a few tiny scars.

When she was eight, she saw her mother's body. Sokka didn't tell her it had broken apart, like burnt wood, when it was moved, and that her father had thrown up in the snow, but she knew anyway. The stench and the memories lingered far beyond the funeral. Her father had to dissemble the hut to move far away, next to Bato's. She still remembered the ashes in her hair from that day, and the horrid feeling when the tent flap was opened.

When she was ten, she and Sokka were forced along with the other village children to the school, while their parents were kept at bay at home, to be watched. She was just a tad too slow, still stunned at the thought of leaving the very day they came, that an impatient, nameless soldier hit her with a heated fist. This left no scar, but it burned.

When she was ten still, she answered back in her native tongue, the one she only knew, and her tongue couldn't taste much for days. She was silent for a long time.

When she was thirteen, Sokka let her join the rebellion. She was careful in all of her raids, and the only flame that touched her skin was a careless error of a lantern bumping against her when she fled.

When she was fourteen, Zhao had given her that lash across the face. It was still faintly there.

In between, she had been hit with fire so much, but it still stung.

* * *

Fire wasn't very obvious sometimes.

Kita had been paired with Qi, a skinny but powerful boy, as he was the son of an affluent nobleman who donated a lot to the school. They had been "sparring"—but as Kita was a nonbender at eight, and Qi was a Firebender at eleven, Katara knew the rules once they stepped into the ring. Nonbending. Just hands and feet. But Qi was a known aggressor and was taller than Kita. The fight wasn't fair. They never were. If she did manage to beat him, she'd be tripped or have her belongings stolen as her reward. Katara took a sip of her water bottle to calm herself down.

Kita circled the boy and lunged. Qi spun easily and kicked her in the shin, then threw her to the ground by the arm.

"Match, for Qi!"

The girl was crying and holding her arm. Katara rushed forward, as did Yue.

"It's a burn." Katara said angrily. She glanced up at the sparring teacher. "He can't—"

"Match, for Qi." the teacher repeated slowly.

Katara stood up. "I don't think you underst—" She happened to toss her head to emphasize her point, but she saw Prince Zuko casually sitting down in one of the chairs. This seemed to happen every time she was going to lose her temper. Did the teachers send him a messenger hawk or something? She bit her lip.

"I do understand. Sit down, _Niu."_

Katara did and drew Kita close to her. "Kita, it's all right, I'll help you." She headed over to the lotions when Tato was called up to face Hide.

_"Bring it on, water scum."_

Grunts were heard. Hide was actually not a good hand-to-hand opponent, but he could fight dirty. But this time, he was losing to Tato, who'd been trained by his father all his life.

Fire flew right at Tato's face, scattering the front row. Everyone gasped.

They gasped louder when Katara's bottle exploded to have the contents cover Tato's face right before the flames hit him.

There was silence. Zuko was leaning forward.

Tato was backing away. "I...I didn't. I swear. I'm not a bender. I'm too old; I'm fifteen."

"Someone else must have done it..." the teacher's eyes roamed around the room. Katara bowed her head as she continued to fumble for the aloe lotion for Kita. He was right; Tato couldn't bend—he never did during the resistance or the secret training sessions.

"You!" She jumped, as did the others. "You little liar!"

His hand was pointing to Kita, whose hands were wet with water.

She shook her head mutely. "I—I'm too old too. None of my family—"

"Lies. Into the heater!"

"She's too young! She's only eight!" Yue stood up. "I am responsible. Send _me_ to the heaters."

"Absolutely not. The girl must learn control."

"Let me help her," Katara begged, coming closer with the opened bottle. "Let me tend to her."

"She'll endure. Guards!"

As soon as he turned his back, Katara swiped as much as she could onto Kita's arm. "Kita, when you come out, try to stay cool. Don't do anything drastic, like a cool shower. If you can, come to me, and—"

She was snatched away from Katara, hands still wet. Zuko's look had tranferred on to the next sparring match.

* * *

She painted her face, blue with white swirls resembling the ocean. Now, she hoped, she looked different from the Painted Lady mask.

Sokka was addressing the assembled group, face resembling the artic wolf. "We just need to be more careful. The Prince knows who Katara is now—but he doesn't know the rest. So far. We can't—what was that?"

They looked fearfully towards the night sky, where a blue and white demonic face, unlike Katara's mask, suddenly appeared.


	19. Chapter 19

**19. Stubborn**

Jee, in less than five minutes, decided that his new leader was brash, irrational, and bull-headed.

He'd been kicked off of Admiral Zhao's crew for saying similar things (with a dig at the admiral's _distinctive_ sideburns) before he went to the Three Nations Academy of Good Fortune and had been downgraded to do odd jobs for the disgraced General Iroh. Truthfully, he liked this more. He lived closer to his wife and growing son, and Jee respected the older man, as he'd served under him during the infamous Siege of Ba Sing Se. He didn't see the retired general as weak; Jee privately often thought he would have reacted the same way and admired the man for sticking to his decision and not denouncing it in public (which would mean, in turn, lowering his son's death), as most of the noblemen would gladly do to get back into power.

Most of his errands were fetching tea supplies and letters and playing Pai Shao. It was actually quite cushy and comfortable, and General Iroh was funny and wise. It was when the Prince was sent to the school to survey the progress for a while that Jee began to question if Iroh liked him at all.

One, the Prince's errand was actually disguised as a punishment. Well, not a punishment exactly—it was more of a standard "get the unfavored out of the way." Prince Zuko, instead of being banished after the fateful Agni Kai, had been mercifully allowed to stay in the palace as prince and heir...with the mark of shame on his face. Jee knew what Fire Lord Ozai's plan was. Zuko would be sent away, and as Zuko was supposed to begin his grooming for the official title of heir to the throne, he'd be sent more and more assignments far away from home for the "good of the Fire Nation," while his sister—prodigy, master Firebender, favorite—would silently slip into the role of future ruler. (Jee hated the girl. He'd witnessed her set a servant's hair on fire, and that was enough for him)

Two, the Prince was known for his temper and complete pig-headedness. The peasant saying of "pull the bull-pig forward, and all he will want to do is go backwards." And backwards he did go, regardless of what anyone told him. Jee was not looking forward to guarding the Prince, that was for sure.

The first thing that hinted at a long journey was lunch. To put it simply, the Prince wanted roasted raven-duck, and there wasn't raven-duck.

"What should we do?"

"I could whip up a substitute."

"No! He'd know it wasn't raven-duck!"

"How do we tell him?"

"You go; it's my first day here!"

Jee stopped the kitchen staff before they started a riot. "Why don't I tell the Prince we don't have raven-duck? He'll understand."

They stared at him.

"Look, if my boy wanted sea slug, and there was no sea slug, he'd have to have cow-hippo instead." Jee answered firmly. "He got it, and so will Prince Zuko. Wait here."

Prince Zuko did not take this scenario very kindly, even when Jee laid out that there was no raven-duck, and if they stopped at a town for the such meat, they'd be late. And if they were late, it would make things inconvenient, and the big speech would have to be pushed to tomorrow.

Jee was sent back with orders to head to the nearest town. Zuko had stared him down with darkened eyes. "I am the Prince. I do not step off my Komodo Rhino to walk among the peasants. I ride through the crowd. They get out of the way, or not."

* * *

Jee hung around Prince Zuko, right at his heels, and stood outside the classroom doors. He preferred standing outside, because he could read the books Iroh sent him. He really didn't believe anyone would shove past him to assassinate the Prince, but he scanned the hallways every so often.

He didn't like standing inside or where anyone could see him. Since the students couldn't really glare at the Prince, they glared at him instead. He'd mostly been what his mother called a "shadowbender," always hidden and never tremendously active with the other nobles, but he'd never been the one always snubbed for Hide and Explode or had his ink bottle "accidently" smashed into his belongings. The glares were a bit startling.

_Of course they don't like you. We're too different. _

Jee ignored them. He wanted to speak up when a teacher struck them or belittled them, but he tried to shrug it off. His teachers did that. He turned out fine. They had to learn.

Or did they?

This thinking was dangerous. This made General Iroh fall, always out of sight and away from the public eye, forever disgraced.

His father told him to stand up for his beliefs. His mother told him to care for everyone.

He wouldn't get involved. This wasn't childhood. They needed to grow up.

It changed when Prince Zuko started to stalk the girl with blue eyes.

* * *

Jee turned the other way when the Prince asked the girl, Niu, for tea. It was a bit strange, since he'd never taken much interest in females, except necessary dates with noblewomen and a few little tours with Lady Mai around the garden, and the girl was a troublemaker to the boot. He only heard talking. Nothing was happening. He leaned against the door and began to open his book.

Suddenly the knob turned, and the door opened. He heard the Prince snarl with a strange sound that may have been laughter: "And, Katara? I am the Prince. I always win."

The girl didn't look back, but her hand trembled on the door as she swept out. She nearly bumped into him, and he saw unshed tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"Are you all right, miss?" He hadn't meant to ask, but he did.

She glared at him so fiercely that he wondered if the school that made a mistake, that they weren't harboring a Firebender disguised as a Water native.

"Leave me _alone."_

She stormed away. Jee closed his book and watched her go untl she disappeared around the corridor. His ears picked up the quickening of footsteps that heavily differed from her calm walk—running.

* * *

Jee spotted the Prince swinging out the window with a blue mask. He followed him while he observed her classes. The Prince was obsessed, and that worried him. It was not pure lechery. It meant something dangerous for the girl. She may have been the enemy, but she was only a girl. The same age as his son.

It was easy to keep an eye on the girl, since his commanding officer was always watching her. He volunteered now to stay inside the classroom, claiming the hallway was boring, and he had no more books. Sometimes when the Prince was away, he watched the girl warily step around the school, but always defiant in small ways, like putting extra food on someone's plate or roling her eyes at a teacher's particularly base remark about the other nations. The girl had inner strength; she was unmoveable in her beliefs, but easily flared in the face of injustice. Jee often feared the girl could be penalized for sure, but the girl could sidestep a truly dire punishment. She always looked as if she was thnking, planning, watching.

* * *

He cornered her in the empty hallway as she was making her way back to her house. "Girl, Niu—"

"That is _not _my name. Who are you, the prince's personal spy? You've been following me, and I don't like it."

Observant. "I am Lieutenant Jee, ordered to be the Prince's personal body guard by General Iroh."

She tossed her head. "Those titles mean nothing to mean. What do you want?" She hugged her books closer to her chest, but her eyes still glinted with anger.

"The Prince is keeping an eye on you, most of all. Be careful."

"Oh." She raised her eyebrows. "I know that."

Jee was surprised. "You do? Has he...hurt you?"

She stepped back. "Why do you care? You're Fire Nation, friends with people of power."

The lieutenant shook his head, something falling from his lips that he instantly wondered whether he could take back, or _should._ "I care because I am worried. I am your friend."

Her eyes regarded him, for something, for a hidden purpose he could not identify. She shook her head and looked around. "You shouldn't even be talking to me. Get back to your prince, and stay away!"

She didn't bother saving her dignity—the girl ran like a startled deer-gazelle, as far away as she could. Jee stared after her. For a moment, her eyes had had the same hard-pressed look the Prince often had.

* * *

_More on what Zuko did as the Blue Spirit next time. _

_No, I do not support Jee/Katara. Come on, the guy is old enough to be her dad. Get real. _


	20. Chapter 20

_Continued from where **18. Heat** left off._

**20. Demons**

"Calm down!" Sokka exclaimed, then pointed his boomerang at the mask. He had managed to save it, somehow, by throwing it in one of the bushes outside their cabin as they were walking past it on their first day. Sokka counted himself extremely lucky on that point—he could have sworn one guard saw, then turned his head, but since the guard had a mask on, he never found out exactly who he was or what happened. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

The figure gracefully jumped down from the tree, landing on the balls of its feet. Katara couldn't help being slightly impressed. She didn't climb onto high places for the same reason—or rather, the opposite reason. If she did end up in a place that was taller than two of Hakodas stacked on top of one another, she closed her eyes and prayed her ankle wouldn't crunch when she landed. She carefully put a hand to her hidden waterskin and noticed that much of the group was doing the same.

"How did you find us?" she asked, as he wasn't answering any of Sokka's questions.

The figure crouched down and took something out of its pocket. It was a dagger, a very fine one with a shiny black handle and carved words on the side she couldn't quite make out in the semi-darkness. Sokka moved forward as if he meant to take the dagger or thought the mysterious being with the mask would lunge at them and plunge the knife into her chests. She tapped him back carefully. It wasn't as if she had the sense that he wouldn't hurt them—but she saw that he was writing carefully in the soft earth in neat handwriting.

_My name is Lee. I am from the Earth House. I want to join you. _

"Earth House?" Sokka frowned. "I don't think I remember you."

_There are a million Lees. _

"Point," Yue nodded, white strands falling from her elaborate hairstyle and sticking to her painted mask. She looked around at the crowd, each in the eyes. "Who can vouch for the honesty of Lee? Someone from the Earth House?"

The Earth Kingdom kids shuffled their feet. Katara held her breath, uncapping the cork, waiting.

Finally, a girl about Yue's age stood up, her brown hair in two braids handing over her shoulders. Her face was painted simply in light green with a swirl of tiny flowers, anemones, that her mother used to grow for business while living in their small village before traveling to Ba Sing Se. Katara vaguely knew her—Jin, a cheerful but timid girl who hid herself from the soldiers and teachers, fearful and shivering. She never talked about what happened to her after she was snatched from her mother on the road, and Katara never asked. It was something she never wanted Jin to talk about if it meant bring up the darkness of her past back. She was a pretty girl with bright eyes and an easy laugh in the Earth House, as Haru used to tell her, but around one Fire Nation person, she would freeze and sink away.

"I...I know him, Yue. I can vouch." Her voice was timid, and her eyes darted to the ground as she spoke, her hands trembling.

"Thank you, Jin." Katara smiled warmly, but Jin continued to stare at the dirt beneath her shabby shoes, her braids hiding her cheeks.

Lee stood up, sheathed his knife, and confidently walked forward.

Sokka still regarded him suspiciously. "Very well. Join us."

* * *

Lee seemed to blend right into their group as if he'd joined years ago and not just two nghts ago. He was silent and elusive, only answering simple questions. Katara watched him practice his broadswords, swinging with smooth elegance that made her wonder a lot of things. _What did his family do? Were they swordsmiths? Did his father or brother teach him? How did he get captured? Where did he get those?_

He scratched in lovely calligraphy, yet a hint of clumsiness to them, handling the writing implement—his dagger, a stick, or the end of a stone—with an easy air. Katara stared at him enviously. She barely knew how to write her own language, and the Fire Nation language was needlessly complicated and took yers to learn, but still not much progress for her. _He must be from a good family, _she decided. No peasant could learn how to write like _that _without proper schooling; they had to focus on hunting and cooking and cleaning and farming and survivial to even think about adding lovely flourishes as he did to their words. Katara's writing looked like picken scratch.

Not to mention the mask. It was a _real _mask, not a painted-on one like everyone's. Teo had told her it was an opera mask, and it was magnificent craftsmenship—no grain of wood was seen through the thick paint, the lines were perfectly clean, the wood seemed smooth and even _shining_ in the moonlight, the shadows of the eyeholes expertly hid his eyes (but added no hinderance to his sight), and it simply looked real, as if a real monster had possessed the mask and was ready to snatch someone up on its fangs and carry them off.

His stealth was excellent, as sient as a pygmy puma, even with boots. Katara was dead sure that the clunky things would echo on wood for sure, but when they did their first raid together—he ran along the roof in soft, padding motions. It was amazing.

Everyone treated him with respect and awe, naturally. No one seemed to know who he was, despite that they pressed Jin for details, and those were small. They all looked up at him, peering up at him with round eyes, asking him to show them something. He even developed a nickname—_the Blue Spirit, _because a simple name like "Lee" didn't seem to fit with his appearance or...allure.

Sokka distrusted him, something he couldn't quite fit his finger on, though he allowed him to come along on raids. But he never let him sit on their meetings of planning an escape or such topics.

"Look, I don't know if it's the mask or the silence or the creepy silent-warrior thing he has going on," Sokka confided to Katara in the house when everyone had gone to sleep. "But something...I can't really _pinpoint _it, but I don't think we should fully let..._Lee _in."

"Maybe you're jealous?" Katara whispered back. "He is sort of a second leader. They come to him for advice."

Sokka shook his head. The covers rustled. "I'm not jealous."

Katara turned and pulled her blankets over her head. "Just sleep on it, Sokka. I think he's all right."

"You think just like them."

"Don't think about that, in terms of _us and them. _We can't be divided within our common goal." Katara sighed and rolled over again. "Sokka, just give him a chance. Let him into a few meetings. See how it goes. He doesn't ruin the raids or anything."

"Hm." Sokka groaned. "Maybe."

* * *

The Blue Spirit's mouth cannot be seen, but it twitches upward in a confident smirk.

He then turns away from the dark window and returns to his own room with silk sheets and gold embroidery.


	21. Chapter 21

_For Kimberly T., who wanted to know the fate of little Kita, who was sent to the heaters. _

**21. Traditions**

Katara considered the Fire Nation Summer Solstice week-long festival both a blessing and a curse.

The good part was no classes for a week, and a lot of time spent in their cabins to paint banners and sew costumes and such, usually not being supervised because the others were scrambling to prepare for the holiday. Everyone could partake in the delicious food, a nice change from the gruel, warm water, mushy vegetables, and a cup of rice.

Which led to the negative side: celebrating their most important festival with as much zeal as the Fire Nation citizens and most of the grunt work and clean-up. Katara hated not being able to celebrate the Winter Solstice, the end of the Days of Darkness (she didn't even know when that was anymore), and a lot of other small festivals that she can only faintly remember. They'd tried to celebrate it once, but one of the prefects saw the decorations and burned them. She hated singing patriotic Fire Nation songs, painting hundreds of cheerful pictures of suns, writing thousands of greetings and wishes on banners, looking reverently at a firestone shaped like Agni, memorizing stiff dance movements and bows, and cooking with mounds of red pepper flakes and fire flakes.

Now that the Prince was residing at the school, the students and teachers alike worked overtime to make it the best Summer Solstice Festival he'd ever seen outside the palace. Katara sewed her own ceremonial clothes until her eyes ached and her hands bled from the constant pokes of the embroidery needle; Yue sang over twenty tunes until her voice began to get scratchy; Sokka hung banners so much that he swore his arms were stuck in upright position forever; Hahn swore over the multiple frivolities of the ball while carrying stacks of the finest dishes the school had; Jin sighed over the red ink staining her fingertips with a mournful look; and countless others, even the Fire Nation kids, began to grumble.

The Prince, of course, did nothing at all to help, but his lieutenant, if passing by, helped straighten a poster or lift something for a student until he was called away, which Katara found surprising and helpful. He was even seen once helping to paint a lantern, in a design of colorful dragons and firecrackers. Odd!

This little story helped cheer little Kita up, who was feverish in bed, eyes dull and skin always sweating. Every chance one got, Waterbending healers tried to place cool hands on her forehead and nonbenders placed cold cloths after the healing, but none seemed to help her every much. The hot weather did not cooperate—they tried opening the windows, dressing her in very light clothing, fanning her, giving her cool baths, and always slipped water down her throat, but only hot air blew through the room, and Kita shivered as if it was coldest blizzard wind. She stopped drinking her water unless prompted, and Katara began to worry when she began to pat her bed and think it was a giant slab of ice.

Some Earth Kingdom members of the rebellion managed to find some healing plants around the school and crush them into a poultice or make a watery elixir, but it did no good. The healer at the school gave them ice packs and turned them away soon after. He was of no help.

Katara cried, even though she tried her best not to around patients. It wasn't the first time she'd seen someone die due to neglect, but it seemed especially unfair—she was so small, so young, so fragile against the heater. She knew the school would just ship her in a plain wooden coffin and toss her back to her family with no apologies, or worse, a frail excuse like "she got sick, and we couldn't cure her." Katara bit her lip. Nothing was working, nothing...

The Waterbending healing, so treasured and prized by her people was failing. The faithful roots and herbs from the earth Kingdom were useless. She might as well sit back and do nothing. Katara buried her face in her hands, letting the water that coated her hands like gloves splash onto the floor.

The Fire Nation, she hated to admit, was technologically advanced. She (forcibly) learned in her lessons about the many machines and med—

Medicine! Special kinds, the ones they once gave to the little boy, The Duke, when his leg was infected when they brought him here. He was fine now! She'd seen him in sparring...

Her mind began to work. Surely, there was a cure for Kita in the hospital wing? They'd have to plan an emergency raid, but they'd never raided such a highly-secured place before...

_No one could help,_ she reasoned, smoothing back Kita's hair. She cried out in her delirium. _No one will. _

_"I am a friend." _

She startled, then remembered who said that to her. Jee. The prince's...personal guard, or something.

_Did he really mean that? _

Katara bit her lip. She had to gamble. If she were caught stealing from the hospital wing, or anyone for that matter, their families would pay. Prince Zuko would certainly have something in store for her...

Jee seemed less...mean than the other Fire Nation adults. It wasn't much to go on—painting lanterns, helping with decorations, a whisper in a hallway, but it was better than nothing. She had to try. If not, she would raid tonight and pray to the Moon and Ocean Spirits for her success.

* * *

Katara wondered, as she walked down the hall, how she could seek an audience with Jee. Did he have an office? What if the Prince was nearby? What could be her excuse of seeing him alone?

She grabbed a nearby poster off the wall. She could pretend she needed him to...do something with it. Hang it in a taller spot? Ask his approval?

The girl approached the Prince's office, which was helpfully labeled. She looked next to it, an unmarked door. Was it storage?

No, someone was moving in there. She could see footsteps within the shadows of the lantern inside. It wasn't the Prince. The Prince didn't wear those boots. Was it Jee?

She knocked. If it was a mistake, she could always pretend and go with her poster inquiry idea.

The door opened, and Jee stood before her with a rather startled glance.

"Ni—no, um..." He didn't seem to know what to call her.

"Look, Lietenant Jee, sir..." Katara bit her lip. "One of my cabinmates, Kita, has a fever. She's really sick; she might...die. She's only eight, please, sir—can you...can you get medicine from the hospital wing for me?"

"Why can't you get it yourself?" The question didn't seem patronizing; he looked genuinely confused.

"The doctor, he won't help. Sir."

Jee angrily shook his head. "That's not right; that's not honorable of that pric—man. Letting a little girl die? Disgraceful..."

Katara held her breath.

"I think I know what to get her. Stay in your cabin and tend to her. I'll make it so you don't have to help in the kitchen today."

"How did you know that?"

"The Prince."

Katara winced. _He hasn't forgotten me. _"Thank you, sir. But how will you arrange—"

"I have access to the Prince's seal." The smirk he gave her made her wish he wasn't Fire Nation, that he wasn't the enemy. She almost smiled back at his outright attitude.

"Thank you. Thank you, Lieutenant."

* * *

The box had pills that dissolved instantly on Kita's tongue that were to be given to her every hour. Jee had even included a syringe filled with clear liquid, in case the fever got even worse. Katara hugged the package to her chest and closed her eyes.

* * *

Kita's fever broke two days later.

Katara brought her heaping platefuls of Fire Nation roast duck and bowls of steaming soup, which Kita devoured in an instant, rivaling Sokka's appetite.

Putting another forkful to Kita's gaping mouth, Katara wondered about Jee, her thoughts about the Fire Nation, and enemies. It was very complicated.

* * *

Prince Zuko watched her raise her arms and dance with true joy to the beat of the drums and the melody of the sungi horn. He grabbed her arm as she went over to sip on the punch.

"You are truly enjoying this festival, Katara?"

She beamed at him. "Yes, my lord."

Katara silently laughed at the befuddled look on his face as he released her, still staring at her as she went. Jee smirked at him from the corner.


	22. Chapter 22

**22. Forbidden**

Katara is finishing taking down the last damned banner when a student comes running up to her with a scroll in her hand.

"Thank you...?" Katara pauses, not knowing this girl's name. She looks new—the uniform is neatly pressed and brightly colored (well, as brightly gray is dyed, anyway), her skin shows no signs of bruises or burns, and her eyes aren't as dull from labor or years of stretched hopelessness. Her brown hair is cut short and her eyes are a pleasant gray.

"Suki." she replies with a slight smile, in the common tongue. "I just got here yesterday."

"Oh," Katara said. She must have missed the news while tending to Kita. "Are you from the Earth Kingdom?"

This question seems to prick her; the smile vanishes, and her eyes dart around the mostly empty hallway, then land on a Fire Nation student passing them with an armload of lanterns. She simply jerks her head, which could be taken as a _yes _or _no, _and scurries off, the thin slippers slapping against the floor.

Katara frowns as she unravels the scroll. Was she like Jin, traveling to a new place until capture? Was she forbidden to speak of home? Did someone silence her?

Her eyes flicker down to absent-mindedly read the words, and she pales.

The Prince wants to see her _now. _

* * *

The Prince is sitting behind a gorgeous mahogany desk, with carvings of dragons frolicking to a sun in the center. He is dressed in impossibly fine clothes—rich red silk robes and pants, gold embroidery weaving through the sides of the sides and the hem of said robes like fire spreading, sturdy black boots with a shock of gold and the toes turned up, and the gold flame crown in his hair. She stares at the finely woven threads, barely visible, and mentally calculates each value. Those boots could give her family a whole trader's boat. The robes could buy almost a year's supply of firewood, or perhaps, maybe only ten months worth. The pants could fetch a massive array of metal cooking pots, pans, and maybe even a large stew pot for the whole village. The crown...Tui and La! That crown can buy all of those things, and more! She's almost dizzy with the amount of wealth simply oozing from the Prince's wardrobe that she gladly sits down on the plush velvet and mahogany-backed chair, which would be able to purchase or trade for a nice fishing boat.

He tips his fingers into a steeple. She folds her hands delicately in her lap. _The desk can be in exchange for...for, a lot of things. Clothes. Salted meat. Paper. Ink. Dishware..._

"I do not want you to see Lieutenant Jee anymore."

She startles. "What?"

"He should not hang around the likes of you. He is getting far too...soft with you and the peasants. It seems you've encouraged him to partake in light-fingered thievery."

Katara freezes. She's only shared this with the Resistance yesterday, in private. Who told? No, they wouldn't have. It must have slipped, in happiness, when someone was passing by and overheard. Or was Jee caught sneaking from the hospital wing and reported? Did Prince Zuko have more spies?

"I, no, he—"

"Silence, Katara." She hates the way her true name issues from his lips. It makes her feel violated, sick, degraded. It's _her _name, given to her by her parents, used lovingly in the Water Tribe community, only by her family and friends. She feels as if she's been robbed of her treasured possession and unable to get it back. He leans forward and looks at her with eyes she didn't like. She shrunk back. She swears that he has been staring at her more often, ever since the Solstice Dance, with her spinning in that light red and gold dress...

"How did you convince him, by the way? Tell me. Perhaps you can give me a _demonstration."_

A disgusted gasp tears from her throat, and she scoots the chair back as fast as could, the legs screeching under the polished wood floor. Her eyes blaze.

"I would_ never—how dare you—"_

Quicker than she thought possible, he vaults over the desk (even that's an odd thing to repeat back to herself) and grabs her arm. He's awfully fond of grabbing that part. She raises his fist and thinks, _No, he can kill my family, no..._, but begins to struggle anyway when he shoves her up against the chair. How foolish of her! She should have gotten up when she got the chance!

Zuko traces her face with one finger, but his bent thumb and middle finger graze her every so often, and she truly shudders. _He can do whatever he likes...no one will stop him. _This terrifies her, and she raises her leg to kick him, hard, jst thinking about getting free and running out the door.

He blocks her with one hand and presses it tightly against one of the legs, starting to make an indent. Her finger rounds her eyes again, and she shivers, still trying to wiggle free.

He ignores her.

"Lovely blue eyes," he murmurs. "Unforgettable."

When his finger begins to stroke her lips, she opens her mouth and clamps her teeth right onto his skin so hard that he yelps like a surprised pup and wrenches it away.

He then hits her, hard, striking her jaw so she can hear a faint _crack _and a ringing in her ears.

Katara refuses to cry, so she opens her eyes as wide as she can and stares accusingly at him, strands of loose hair falling down her back. She tastes metal in her mouth.

Prince Zuko backs away, holding his hand away from his body as if it's now tainted with poison, and stares at her reddening cheek with a flash, as quick as lightning striking a dark sky with something she swore on her mother's memory was horror. He reaches out as if to touch her face, then stops himself and softly touches his chin with the outside of his fingers, gingerly, almost as if he's checking for something.

He speaks first, tentative and cautious and in a completely stiff tone to match his equally-so posture in the quiet room. "I..." Zuko jerks his head towards the door and turns away from her abruptly. He's leafing through his papers, not really reading them, just tossing them aside with too-loud flutters. "Get...get going. You have class in five minutes. History. Wouldn't want to be late. And...stay away from Jee."

She backs away, involuntarily cradling her cheek, wondering if she should arrange her hair so it covers it. He's now looking at her with strange, stupid, saddened eyes. _She _should look that way, not him, the...

Katara whirls around as fast as she can, almost hitting the chair on her way out, and slowly turns the knob.

He watches her go.

* * *

_I wanted to throw something with Blue Spirit and Katara bonding, but I wasn't sure if it was quite right for this prompt, because relationship for two (as far as Katara knows) members with the same goals and such wouldn't necessarily be "forbidden." Well, technically "Lee" is "frim" the Earth House, and Katara is from the SWT house, and it's against the rules for the two factions to interact, but I didn't think it was an extreme enough thing for here. _

_So, Suki's here, and she'll play a big role here with a few others..._


	23. Chapter 23

**23. Serenity**

Zuko wasn't a fool—or, he didn't _think _he was, which wasn't exactly reassuring if he thought about it.

He knew that his father preferred his sister, but _everyone _knew that, so much that his father could brush him off in the meetings (if he was invited) or ignore him while he was talking to him in public. Zuko pretended not to. He carried himself in the proper, princely way and acted as if he could hold the world in the palm of his hand and crush it in a fist if he wanted to. It hurt less. He didn't know if this was making his situation more obvious, but he couldn't bear to disappear in the shadows forever like Uncle Iroh, to be forgotten and disgraced and never rise.

Ever since the Agni Kai, his father had made his dugust for his son known in subtle ways, even if he got to keep the crown. More tutors streamed into the palace, and Zuko, while listening carefully, learned that they were teaching the Princess more royal ettiquette, tea-hosting for important nobles, advanced budgeting, public speaking, and a host of other things that were not at all offered to him. Azula was in all of the meetings and delighted in witholding information and pretending to be surprised: _"Oh?_ You didn't know about the financial crisis in Fire Fountain City?" and other such questions like that to make him look stupid during the meager meetings he _was _allowed to attend. He was left, after his lessons and Firebending practice, to his own devices, the message clear: _We don't need you around._

Zuko hated feeling powerless, alone, lost, and half-baked. He missed his mother. There was Iroh, but he was giving Zuko _strange _little slip-ins while talking that involved "fate isn't set by man" or "your destiny is in your hands." Something felt wrong about these; they implied the same thing that got half of his face burned off.

During his free time, he would explore the Fire Nation. Just small things, like buying a meat dumpling or looking briefly at puppet shows. He had a hood over his face, so no one would see his scar, but he didn't have proper civilian clothes. Even covered up, he was stared at—he looked like a shady nobleman, and a rich one at that.

He was never truly free, until he found an old mask.

* * *

It was blue and white and dusty, and he wasn't sure from where it came from. A Fire Festival? A masquerade? Was it a present?

His mother's room was shut off and not cared for at all. The air was always musty (until Zuko opened the window as wide as he dared), every single thing was fine gray, and in general, it was dark as pitch. He wondered why his father didn't destroy all of her things altogether. He wasn't disillusioned—his parents did not have a happy marriage, and they had given up on the rule of "not arguing in front of the children" when Zuko was seven. His father never talked about his wife after that day, and the second time he asked, he was given such a _disgusted _look that he slunk off, making muttered apologies. Strangely, the palace was void of rumors, when you could sneeze one minute, and after ten minutes, someone would ask you if you had a chill from the dreadful outdoors or from the disgusting Admiral Guo, who had sneezed into Lady Dai's hair two weeks before. If people knew about his mother, they weren't saying a word, but once he heard someone (he had forgotten who) mutter it had to relate to Fire Lord Azulon's death.

It was buried in a drawer, along with other papers—certificates, princess paperwork, and paintings Zuko had made as a child. Nothing was written onto the back as a message or a token, and it appeared well-cared for (even though it was dusty). The paint wasn't chipped, the wood wasn't scratched, even the straps that tied the mask to one's face were strong.

Zuko had taken it from her room, carefully hiding it under his robe, and stole away.

* * *

He felt he was indeed free, leaping onto roofs and running through the night, the wind caressing his hair and the mask hiding his face.

It was something he was _good_ at. Lu Ten had given him a fun crash course before he'd left for Ba Sing Se, and he even said so. He could remember Lu Ten laughing as Zuko scaled a tree and hopped It didn't seem that Zuko had lost his talent, despite all of those years. No one glanced up or looked. There were no reports of a mysterious figure running around Caldera City and beyond (if he dared and retired early).

Even though he had to skirt the ready nightly patrol or occasionally check his mask's straps, he felt wonderful.

* * *

Then he was sent to this school, far away, almost clear to the Earth Kingdom. It was near the sea, which would have been pretty, except it rained too often for his taste and cold winds blew around with a freezing blast that chilled him to his bones. The sky was gray, the most of the clouds covered the sun, and he was always freezing.

Lieutenant Jee was under his command, and Zuko had checked: Fire Lord Ozai had not assigned him. In fact, the Fire Lord had only arranged for a royal escort to the school, then they would leave him, like a shiny trinket shoved into a dinky shop's back shelf—the beauty wearing off and becoming unused and unsought. He didn't know _why _the man volunteered. He had pursued his record: he was expelled from Admiral Zhao's control for "inappropriate conduct," a vague statement that could mean a lot of things. He didn't want any criminals watching him, and certainly none who were associated with that hog-monkey Zhao. He knew for a fact that Zhao constantly "talked" about him to the other nobles and was cocky enough to taunt him in public.

He knew this was a punishment, an excuse. The school wasn't having much of a success, and the Prince arriving to observe the problems and solve them made a nice story. There was a secret rebellion, childish things like graffiti and petty theft. None were caught, which was insulting and embarrassing to the authorities who ran it. All they could tell them was that the resistance had benders and dark clothing and masks.

But he thought about it. A resistance. He liked a challenge, something to keep his mind busy. Perhaps the Avatar himself was leading!

He laughed softly to himself as he rode on his Komodo Rhino for his grand entrance. From Sozin to his sister (briefly), no one could find him! He was probably dead, killed, gone. Perhaps he was a Waterbender or an Earthbender, now, reincarnated. That seemed plausible enough. How could the Air Nomads survive Sozin's great assault? The Air Nomad's army was pathetic; he'd read about them. No way could a single Airbender be alive.

* * *

_KATARA, #799: New name is Niu. Registered Nonbender. Age: fourteen. Notes: extremely rebellious, brash, passionate. Cares a lot for her brother, #800. _

Zuko slammed the foldier shut. It didn't much else, except for perhaps some paintings of her face and a few pieces of paperwork about her health, strength, intelligence, potential. The Prince put it back in the drawer and locked it with the set of keys Headmaster Zhao had (reluctantly) given him.

He knew quite about her already. The girl was in his grasp, running with a chain around her ankle, always aware of it yanking back towards him. She was the second-in-command of that resistance movement, the leader being her brother. She was a Waterbender, trained enough to create a large wave and freeze water, but her control was something to be desired. She was a lovely girl, bright-blue eyes and soft, caramel skin—her hair was always struggling to be free of her bands, and her eyes pierced him, cold and sharp as one of her ice daggers. She could look at him and make him feel small, but he _always _was in control. She was truly in his hands, her fate depended on pleasing him. The contradiction made him shudder with something he couldn't quite place.

Zuko truly felt powerful. She could always be summoned; his title was still honored here. She was always at his beck and call.

He had an excuse. He always did. He could toss in a few honeyed words about "education," and those teachers would be writhing with pure delight. They were already complimenting him on reducing her fiery attitude. Zuko wanted to laugh in their faces. Reduced? Perhaps, outwordly, but she would always burst out to save someone. The little peasant could get killed by doing that.

As he watched her slice open a metal-lock on a door during one of the raids, he thought for a split second. Absolute defiance against the Fire Nation? Unafraid and bold and in the name of justice? Powerful bender? Check, check, check.

_Could the girl be the Avatar?_

_She would be an old lady if she was the Avatar from the Water Tribe. _

_Perhaps she's another bender, and water is her preferred choice. It's happened before. _

_She's so talented; she must be a prodigy, perhaps an Avatar thing?_

_Such audacity..._

He smirked. He loves this fire, this dance, the challenge. He has infiltrated the secret Resistance; he has gained her trust; and he has her trembling in her boots.

* * *

She makes him angry. She's still unyielding. She is confident of her abilities to dodge the authorities. She taunts Prince Zuko during the resistance meetings and makes everyone roar and toast to her. She's turned Jee into a bumbling, soft fool who is willing to do anything for her.

He halts his thoughts. _What nonsense. _The girl is uneducated and uncouth, but she won't go that far. And Jee, a Fire Nation-raised citizen, knows better. He is about ten years younger than Iroh. _Such nonsense. How stupid. _

She's sitting in front of him, staring at him and all the items in his room. Zuko doubts she's seen such finery in her chilled wasteland. He lays down his new rule and sits back to watch her stew, taunting her all the while, feeling a hot pleasure washing over him, a cold shard in his heart telling im it's wrong...

Katara is a beautiful girl. He knows there's something wicked about it: he's sixteen and she's fourteen; he's a Fire Prince and she's a captive Waterbender; and he shouldn't hide behind excuses of following her.

Thoughts pop into his head. _She's caring, she's kind, she's brave, she's perfect for—_

The beast thunders over these and takes advantage. They're alone in his office, no one can disturb them, Jee is taking a walk, and he's the stalwart prince of this school.

Her skin is softer than silk, her hair is wild, her eyes are equal parts submissive and equal parts temerity. His hands freely trace her—she's exactly like the sea, calm on some days but thoroughly untamed. How delicious would it be, to have her, right now, to conquer the second eader of the resistance and Avatar.

She does not agree; there's a burst of pain on his finger, and it's bleeding.

Something rumbles, and a moment seems to skip to when his hand is stinging and her cheek is bright red. It's as if he has blacked out and has awoken, as if he was hijacked.

_Mom and Father were arguing. She was saying something, something he couldn't hear, but was steadily raising her voice and pushing him away with two arms. And he hit her, hard, across the face, and he hears something crack, even from around his hiding place around the dark corner. She doesn't beg, she doesn't cry, she doesn't whimper—she simply stares at him with something akin to recognition and reigned anger. _

Katara mimics the scene perfectly, as if she could see inside his head. He reaches out, to comfort her—then pulls back at the ridiculous suggestion. He would hurt her, again, and she...he was...Zuko then strokes his chin carefully and pictures a portrait of his father, very bright and fierce and...monstrous. So tall, so god-like, in his portrait...as if he could do anything and get away with it...and he could...and Zuko was...

He lets her walk out with a shudder. Two weeks. Then he would be rid of her for good.

* * *

_I don't know how exactly Zuko becomes the Blue Spirit. In "Zuko's Story," a man named Hong Shen gives Zuko the mask and the broadswords after a bit of complicated story about robbery and in which Zuko becomes a bit disillusioned by the Fire Nation/Fire Lord. The said book was Movie!Canon, so...(shrugs) I'm not quite sure how much of Mike and Bryan's ideas they took for it. _

_And no, Katara IS NOT the Avatar here. This is purely Zuko's speculation. _


	24. Chapter 24

**24. Tea**

With the Prince, there was a big assembly, a little parade to the school by Komodo Rhino, and worshipful bows and glances.

With General Iroh, there was a giant tea-hosting.

Katara could hear the teachers fluttering around, worrying about how to treat General Iroh, fallen from grace because of the unsuccessful 600-Day Siege of BA Sing Se. He was still technically royalty, but the missives about him implied him dishonorable, failure, and even a traitor.

They finally decided to do a "tea party," of sorts—everyone knew of the general's love for that particular beverage. Everything was set up in the main hall, with a long table filled with appetizing treats and various teapots and cups. The tea, however, was not in the teapots—that was for the ceremony, and everyone had to practice making it. Katara began to hate the smell of tea, her hands partially stained by the leaves. Her partner, Suki, also muttered in disgruntlement. The students were all given a crash course on tea ceremonies in the Fire Nation, and all Katara could think of by the end of the day were rinsing, heating, and tapping.

General Iroh finally came without a moment to spare, delighted at the spread. The students all began to brew the tea, each one a different blend—jasmine, green, lychee, oolong, white, chrysanthemum, yellow, black—and more. Katara highly suspected that it was because they didn't know Iroh's prefered choice, so the decision fell to chance, by brewing every single kind of tea under the humid, unholy sun.

One new student, a slight twelve-year-old boy, exclaimed that there were more types of tea, like chai, and where he came from, tea ceremonies were less formal and more about eating pastries and drinking the tea. He was immediately scolded by Ms. Kwan and sent away to not fill up "the young students' empty heads with drivel."

Katara and Suki were standing near the Prince, who was seated at his uncle's right side. Suki seemed a bit nervous as she told Katara that the tea was almost ready, and Katara was steadily forming beads of sweat by having to stand with her back to Zuko. They then threw out the first batch of their jasmine tea, which seemed wasteful to Katara, into a small silver tray and refilled the tea-pot with hot water.

While the tes was brewing (again), most of the students took the opportunity to chat, but Headmaster Zhao had warned anyone who was standing near the general was not allowed to "disgrace the school by chattering about trivial things." Katara wasn't even sure how she'd ended up by General Iroh, but she and Suki waited in silence and fidgeted their hands and skirts while the two chatted about the goings on in the capital, espeically of the Princess' present: a warship and a small army. They weren't too pleased about this gift (and neither was Katara), but they talked in hushed tones that Katara couldn't hear over the clattering of bowls, the hissing of the water, and the constant babble of the other students. Prince Zuko seemed agitated about something, as his uncle was continuing to try to explain something, and Katara only caught a few words like _letters, destiny, right, wrong, Fire Nation. _

Suddenly, Zuko slammed his fist in into the table, and everyone nearby jumped. He hissed, quite loudy over the now-silent hall, "I have picked my path, Uncle. Do not sway me from it with your words!" The water in the teapots began to steam.

Katara backed away from him.

Prince Zuko noticed and a softer look traveled along his face. "Katara, you must sit for a while."

She shook her head mutely while Suki raised her eyebrows at her in astonishment. The general looked surprised, too.

The Prince pulled out an empty chair, where the students would sit after the tea ceremony. Katara stood, horrified, as Zuko forced her down, practically pushing her into the hard, wooden seat. His hand was firmly on her back until Katara subtly pushed it away.

Everyone was staring, and one teacher went over to ask the royals of this discrepancy, but Zuko waved him off.

Suki didn't lose her head; she was the first to successfully finish brewing and quickly pour it into the cups. Katara stupidly received it with both hands and numbly began to sip. Suki raised her eyebrows again, and Katara hurriedly tapped her first two fingers on the table, almost causing the tea to spill out in the process.

By then, the students could sit down and officially talk.

"So," Suki smiled nervously. "Uh, how was your journey, General Iroh?"

"Very uncomfortable," Iroh replied, but in a cheerful tone that did not suit the line. "It rained for days, and my carriage roof leaked, dripping water all over my head. But there was an amusing thing that happened during when the mud was especially slippery. One of the guards was carrying—"

Katara and Suki chuckled in spite of themselves at the funny anecdote, so the general took that opportunity to tell them more.

After a while, Katara realized that she hadn't poured his empty cup and quickly hastened to do so.

Unfortunately, Suki noticed too, and as they both quickly reached for the cup with blue etchings, it fell, shattering into pieces on the newly scrubbed, wooden floor.

Katara kneeled down to pick the shards up with her napkin while trying to ignore the stares and mutters of "clumsy barbarian," while Suki mopped up the tea. The porcelain shards cut her fingers, and she cursed, looking at to assess the damage.

"Here, let's get you to the infirmiry. You, entertain Uncle Iroh for us." Zuko commanded Suki, while gently picking up Katara by her forearm while gently wrapping a clean cloth napkin around her fingers.

As they walked out the door, Katara thought she heard him mutter, "I was wrong. She can't be hurt."


	25. Chapter 25

**25. Light**

Katara had a sinking suspicion that something was going to happen, something momentous and life-changing that gave her a churning sensation in her stomach, like moldy rice. Strangely, she shouldn't feel that way. Sokka found a master key that unlocked all the entrances for their escape plan, Kita is officially well and fever-free enough to walk without an escort, they've gained new resistance members—Suki (a secret Kyoshi warrior) and a surprisingly agile and quick twelve-year-old, the one who had commented on chai tea, Yue is going back home (briefly) to her father as a "treat for the Princess to report and encourage on progress," Zhao is holed up in his office with paperwork and Jee was his substitute, and Zuko has stopped trying to ask her to tea or even look at her. All of these things should be wonderful, but Katara, raised in paranoia and fear, is nervous. She can help feeling that something will go wrong soon, but everyone seems in high spirits. Even Hahn has stopped scowling.

She tried to talk to Sokka about it, but he was too excited about finding the master key and too anxious, trying to figure out how to smuggle over twenty children out of the school without being caught or followed. Yue is serene as ever and tries to offer reassurance, but it seems that her heart isn't really all into it as she packs for the long journey north. Suki begins to worry with her, so Katara stops telling her. The other resistance members are in the same state as Sokka.

The only one she could really get words from was the Blue Spirit, albeit in written form. He kept telling her to be cautious and stay out of trouble and perhaps not go to the meetings anymore. Katara refuses. How could she let everyone down when they've come so far to escape?

Two weeks have passed, and everything is in order. Yue won't leave yet until tomorrow, so she can help the others escape, and Sokka plans most everything, at the night of the full moon, where the Waterbenders are at their most powerful, and Firebenders are weaker. Some dare to smuggle their brothers or sisters or the small children along, confident of the plan. Katara notices Kita has managed to squirm her way in, and she vows to keep a close eye on her. Suki is nervous and keeps whispering to the twelve-year-old boy, Bumi, who is in the Earth House and is not a bender, but is able to scramble up he rooftops even better than the Blue Spirit.

Speaking of which, he was at her side as always, his emotions behind the mask, but Katara could sense that he was nervous.

Sokka unlatched the gate carefully, slowly, so it wouldn't creak. Everyone was leaning forward in anticipation.

"Earthbenders, your partners. Get underground as soon as you step out. You hear?" Everyone nods. They have a change of real Fire Nation clothes with other supplies, which they've sewed carefully through the late meetings or hidden in their cabins. Katara is ready.

The Duke is practically dancing in place with the other children, like Kita. Hahn has a hand on his club while keeping a close eye on his Earthbending partner. Yue is next to Sokka with a calm smile, helping him with the gate, her white hair glowing in the moonlight. Suki is fiddling with her makeshift replacement fans. Bumi is playing with his black hair and hat. Jin is trembling from head to foot right next to Teo.

Katara smells something—kerosene. They didn't have lanterns. There's something else, too, like something smoky...

Something isn't right.

She turns to ask Sokka if he smells it too, just as the heavy gate is finally forced open, and the first group is already plunging underground when the world _explodes._

Katara doesn't remember screaming, but all she knows now is that she has dirt in her hair and skin, and she's facedown in the earth. The other students are good at keeping silent, but a few of the little ones whimper.

"What...what happened?" Suki coughs, wiping dirt from her eyes with a bit of a struggle.

Katara opens her mouth to reply that she doesn't know, then her eyes, as if guided, rest on Jin. She's staring tearfully at them, a spent firecracker on the ground near her, her hands coated in ash. But she's not looking at them, as a crowd, Katara realizes as she begins to pick herself up. She's looking at someone specifically—

She follows Jin's eyes and gasps.

It's the Blue Spirit, unmasked, hood down, golden eyes looking the same as when he hit her, but with a certain hardness to them.

"Please," Jin begs, falling onto the ground on her knees. "He threatened me, my mother, I had to—please."

Sokka doesn't give her a second glance. He's practical, mind shifting to the greater picture instead of the main problem.

"They'll be here soon. Get away, as much as you can! Under! Young kids first!"

Katara shoves Kita along with a pair of twin Earthbending boys as they begin to create a hole in the ground and turns with her water ready towards Prince Zuko. Sokka is ordering, gently soothing them. Yue pulls out her dagger and ties up Jin with strips of her own blue dress; the girl keeps shaking and sobbing so loudly that Yue gags her with her sash. The princess looks at her with remorse and sadness before running to help Katara.

Suki dances in, metal fans whirling, and she draws the first blood—nicking Zuko's knuckles as he punches forward with fire. She manages to dodge, her skirt flying gracefully, and fiercely charges.

Bumi, surprisingly, does the same.

"Bumi, no!" Katara screams. "You're only a kid! Get out of here!"

"No!" his gray eyes harden. "I owe it to all you to fight!"

Katara doesn't quite know what he means, but the second he manages to land Zuko flat on his back in a flash makes her decide that Bumi is pretty good.

Suddenly, the small flames from Jin's firecracker light on the grass among them. Or perhaps, Katara didn't price as she was trying to stab the man who betrayed everyone with he icicles. No point in hiding her abilities.

Fire causes panic, and it's all Sokka could do to motivate the frightened kids, some of the older ones losing their heads and yelling. They hear clanging of metal and running footsteps. Katara begins to panic. Guards. Zuko manages to leap out of of the way of a dagger, ten icicles, and kick while glaring at Sokka. "They're here."

She lashes at his throat, and he spins to get out of the way when a small army with guards not from the school approach, led by Zhao.

Katara curses. Yue is looking frightened, but resolute as she continues to swipe at the Prince with her dagger. Suki simply looks defiant, while Bumi turns pale. Katara nearly drops her waterskin.

Zuko turns to her. "I'm sorry."

"You liar!" she hits him with a water whip, surprised momentarily a the sharp smack it makes when in contact with his cheek. "You believe in all of this filthy propaganda, and—"

"Run!" Sokka yells. The escaping students are almost out. Jin is still tied near the gate, head hung. "Split up!"

Katara takes one look at Zuko, then another at the flaming fists of the guards and Zhao, then flees.

* * *

Katara forgets how fast of a runner she is. She sprints almost to the Water House before her mind catches up.

_What will they do to me? To Sokka? To Dad?_

_Wait, can I go back into the cabin? Should I? Should I pretend this never happened?_

_No, Zuko would have told the identities._

_It's not safe._

_Where can I go?_

She summons water from the nearby drinking trough, the metal ladle coming with it at a few of the guards, who immediately Firebend at it before being encased in ice. Katara knows they might melt it before long, so she runs—she doesn't know where, but she has to get away.

It is the first time she can use her powers to the fullest, and she doesn't hesitate to use them to shove away guards. She has to find her brother, her friends, someone.

Where would Sokka go? He's always been clever and tricky. He'd hide somewhere out of the way and quiet. But Yue is still out there. Sokka wouldn't leave her. He loves her.

Her mind assesses the situation. Suki favors high places, so she must be on the roof. She and Bumi are often close together, so Bumi might be with her. The guards can't climb the roofs with their heavy metal uniforms, and she's seen both of them, the Kyoshi Warrior and boy. They are _fast. _They can hide well. She has to find Sokka, then, because Yue isn't much of a climber, like her, and he wouldn't ever abandon her.

Katara ran, her ears and ears open. The fire was spreading, and the students in the cabins were peeking out the windows or rushing out of the doors, screaming.

Fire flashed before her eyes, and she dropped to the ground, right behind a cluster of bushes.

Zhao was standing before Yue, forced on her knees, her knife sticking erect into the ground, and held by two guards. Sokka was not there.

_Where is he? _

Yue's hair blew softly around her face. "You can't keep doing this, Zhao. This is not right."

Katara crawled closer, trying not to breathe.

Zhao raised his hand. "We've been after this foolish resistance for years. We will wipe out this idiotic endeavor of yours. The Fire Nation is strong."

"Strong in the wrong ways!" Yue shouted back, her eyes gleaming in the nearby firelight and full moon. Katara could hear something powerful, something _royal _in her voice as she continued, "You confuse the other elements as being weak, but it is not a question of strength in sheer power! I can tell you that earth can move mountains and entire cities, while water can wash away towns and carve a canyon from rock. It is our duty, as benders to _create. _Fire is good for lighting, cooking, and keeping warm, not just burning! You cannot do this!"

One of the guards riased his hand to cuff her face, but the headmaster shook his head and raised a palm calmly.

Zhao advanced on her. "I can."

"I...I am the Princess of the North!" Katara nearly jumped as Yue's voice seemed to pierce the sky, and the guards holding her were shrinking away. "My father will know, and he will retaliate! You do not understand the bonds of friendship and family, Zhao! If you destroy anyone, they will come! We will not break! That is one of our purposes in the Resistance!"

"Who is your leader? Where are the rest?"

Yue glared and raised her chin higher. "The Fire Nation preaches honor in every class. I will not dishonor myself by betrayal!"

Zhao laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. I'll even give you a full pardon, like the little Jin over by the gate."

_Lies, _Katara thought. Yue, however, seemed to hesitate, and Zhao leaned forward in anticipation.

The Princess seized her dagger by her teeth and _threw _it at his face, skimming his cheek with an angry tear. She then kicked the guards, who were stunned in silence, and they loosened their grip enough for her to run free.

_"No!" _Zhao roared, and fire sprang to life in his fists, a huge amount that was almost the size of the bushes Katara was in.

Yue spun around when she heard his angry snap and looked in horror as the wave of flames rushed towards her.

Sokka had given Yue training, because Yue had none as a typical Northern Water Tribe princess. Yue knew what to do: duck, fall flat on the ground, and roll.

She was one step too slow.

Her white hair caught on fire, along with her dress, and for one moment, she resembled a goddess, cloaked in dancing gold and yellow, fierce and lovely and powerful, her eyes standing out in half surprise, half defiance, flashing blue among all the warm colors. Then, everything closed in and_ burned. _

Katara saw Yue's face changing into her mother's, and she was retching just like the day in Ms. Kwan's history class and now was gasping and shaking and not noticing the world turning black.


	26. Chapter 26

**26. Holiday**

Katara woke up to soft pillows and cool sheets and the smell of jasmine tea.

It was truly a pity she had to wake up, she mused, eyes still closed. She had been dreaming of clouds and water and her mother and herself soaring in the sky and playing in the waves, although they coudn't have done it at home because the sea was always freezing...

Her hand moved and touched burnt cloth, and then she remembered everything. The escape plan. Jin's betrayal. Zuko, the Blue Spirit. Zhao. Yue...

Yue was dead. She shuddered and felt like throwing up again. She'd sen her mother's body and known what had happened; she'd seen the pitiful wooden coffins of the dead students, carelessly attended to; and she'd almost lost little Kita. But she _saw _Yue, the _bravest_ princess in the world, light up in flames like a phoenix, but she would not come back to life.

Where was her brother, Suki, Bumi, the other resistance members?

Where was _she? _

She sat up and nearly screamed. The room was plain, but she was in a large bed with red silk blankets and a shiny carved desk and a dresser with a tea set on it and bare walls with a two doors. This wasn't her room at all. Was this Zhao's? Did he catch her? Oh, spirits, was she here to...

The door opened, and Prince Zuko strode through with a tray and a bowl of what smelled like broth with meat in it.

Katara did the first thing that entered her mind: she picked up the teapot and threw it at him.

* * *

It missed—it was much too heavy with tea and landed ten feet away from him, smashing the porcelain on the hardwood floor and splattering the tea on everything, mostly the hardwood floor.

The Prince stared stupidly at her. The tray was still in his arms. "You're—"

Katara didn't see the point in obstructing her abilities towards him anymore. She flicked her wrist, and the tea shaped it self into twenty ice daggers, flying at Prince Zuko with speed that she could admire. He cursed and ducked, the broth sloshing over the sides. The daggers impaled the door and walls.

"Are you stupid? They don't know you're here! Stop that!" he hissed at her as loudly as he dared and set to melting the tea-icicles, forming a large puddle on the floor. He pointed to them. "Clean this up, and don't you dare try something."

Katara scowled and gracefully pulled it back into the teapot just as a knock sounded on the door. "Everything okay there, Prince Zuko?"

"Fine, Lieutenant Jee!" Zuko called back with a strained nod, forgetting his officer couldn't see him through the door. He picked up the tray and dumped it in front of her. "Here. Komodo chicken soup with noodles."

She stared at him, then at the bowl. _"What...?"_

Zuko rapidly summarized as she dug her spoon into the steaming soup. "I picked you up and carried you here without anyone noticing. I had to clean you up a bit, since you, ah, regurgitated on yourself again, but I didn't touch you anywhere else, I swear on Agni. Then, I put you in bed and ordered Jee to guard the door. You didn't awake for two days."

_Two days. _"What of my brother? My friends?"

"They can't find your brother. Suki was caught, but that kid, Bumi, wasn't."

"Suki..." her throat felt dry, despite the abundance of soup being spooned into her mouth. "What...what's happening to her?"

Zuko swallowed. "They're...they're interrogating her. With...fire whips and...chains."

_Spirits, no. _"Suki..."

"She—"

"Don't you dare say she'll be fine! You made this happen! You planned everything, you bastard! You son of a—"

"If you say _bitch, _then I'll turn you in. I swear that I will." His eyes were flames, now, but she found that she didn't care. Not anymore.

"And what? I'll say that you hid me from them and took care of me. Isn't that a bit _treacherous?"_

He glowers at her, and she simply stares back.

Zuko turns away. "What am I going to do wth you?"

She narrows her eyes. "Set me free. Let me escape and find my brother and rescue—"

"And get killed? Surely not."

"Then help me!" Katara snaps. "Help me, then, if you don't want me to get injured! Ironic, huh?"

He starts and backs away from her. She feels powerful at the look in his eyes. "Katara, please. I realize all of this was wrong; it's—"

"You _just_ found that out?" Katara wants to form more icicles. Her soup is starting to vibrate in the bowl. "It took a _death_ of a girl, and me _fainting _to realize this? Are you _really_ this messed up in the head?"

The Prince hangs his head. His hair falls into his eyes, and she notices that he's not wearing his crown. "Yes. I am."

She's silent, then turns away from him. That's the most honest thing he's said to her so far.

* * *

Zuko keeps her in his room and orders Lieutenant Jee to stand watch over his room. Since he would look suspicious guarding the Prince's room every day when it was not needed before, and this would put him in a situation for him to be asked questions, Jee is stationed in her room. He's polite and sorry and plays Pai Shao with her, a girft from General Iroh, who had left before the Escape. Katara has one of Zuko's robes and pants on, since Zuko doesn't allow her to wear the singed school uniform anymore (she doesn't really have the desire to, either), but she still hates it, as if she's his personally-owned property.

Jee knows enough about her not to talk about the Escape or her friends without her bringing it up, so he shares legends of the Fire Nation that are not sprinkled with patrotism and funny stories about his childhood. He reminded her of her father, somewhat, but with a drier sense of humor. Katara was soon laughing at a story of little Zuko falling into the turtleduck pond when the Prince walked in, obviously disgruntled.

"That is enough merriment today." Katara raised an eyebrow. Who said _merriment? _Jee smirked, too, as Zuko continued, "They might hear you two! Jee, you are dismissed. We have big day tomorrow."

* * *

Katara figures out that the "big day" is _not_ an escape plan, but a day out in the next town. Zuko makes her pose as a Fire Nation colonial, since he tells her that he "can't steal powder to make her look like a citizen since everything is tightly locked." Jee is going, too, posed as her father. Zuko wears a cloak.

She feels this is the Prince's way of "cheering her up," which seems a little bit odd because he's trying to make up for causing a death, several injuries, and a betrayal. (Two, if you counted Jin) Katara is taken to the seaside, where she immediately smells the wonderful air ("It smells like salt and dead fish, Katara.") and wades in the water like a "lunatic."

Zuko buys her sweets—an egg custard tart and a taro roll—and tries to give her other nice things, like jewelry and books and dresses, but she saves him off. She doesn't see the use of them and doesn't want to accept anything from him. She gives the taro roll to Jee (it's his favorite) and the tart to a wailing child.

The Prince finally pleases her with the ocean, even though she cannot bend it. They watch her prance in, fully clothed, and walk in it slowly. It's freezing, but delightfully contrasts the humid and stuffy school. Her skirts swirls in the water. She feels calm as she steadily begins to go into deeper, the waves gently pushing at her as she paddles in delight.

"Don't go too far," the Prince commands her, like a parent to an eager child.

Katara stares at him, something clicking in her her head. Zuko smiles at her fondly and turns away to talk to Jee.

She dives.


	27. Chapter 27

_Zutara Month looks almost over, and wow, thanks a LOT for all of these fabulous reviews, especially Different Child and Kimberly T. Arc Two for this particular AU will be short, thanks to my superb planning, but I have an idea of making this a separate fic to expand it after Zuatara Month. _

**27. Similarity**

Katara swam underwater for a good part of the day, thanks to her water-bubble technique, and finally decided to get onto land before it got dark. She had three gold coins in a leather pouch on her belt that she suspected was Zuko's doing, but she knew a decent inn would cost perhaps five silver, a hot meal ten coppers. Gold coins would cause her trouble, and she didn't need that. Katara sighed as she climbed carefully from the shore, Waterbended herself dry from behind a bush, and strode to the nearest town, where she saw lanterns glowing. She felt free, walking in the air and moonlight and wind, hair loose around her face.

* * *

The woman, an elderly crone with white hair, gave her a small room key, then clucked at her appearance. "My dear girl, why are you traveling alone? And in those clothes?"

Katara remembered that she was still wearing Zuko's robe set—it was a man's, and even though it was fine silk, they were loose around her body and looked as if they were about to fall off; the robe had to be wrapped three times around her slender, undernourished form. She did not have her topknot on (since the hairpiece had the school's emblem on it), and his shoes were much too big for her, but she wore them because, well, they were sturdy.

"I, I am visiting my aunt in the Earth Kingdom colonies," she quicky lied. "She has, has a dreadful fever, and I must see her. These are my brother's clothes; my own were...stolen."

The woman gave her a once-over, and Katara gulped. She narrowed her eyes. "Girl, look at me."

Katara did. Were there wanted posters of her somewhere? Should she risk Waterbending this woman and run? There were some tall vases filled with fire lilies and water nearby...

The woman suddenly smiled brightly, with slightly yellowed teeth, her grayish eyes shining in the dim candlelight. "Why don't you settle in, and I'll prepare a meal for you?"

Katara's eyes darted to the vases. "Uh, I thank you kindly, ma'am, but I, uh, already ate before I came here."

Her stomach growled, remembering the uneaten taro roll and egg custard tart. She cursed inwardly.

The old woman kept smiling. "Nonsense, it would be no trouble. Call me Hama."

* * *

Katara didn't really have any things to speak of, but she decided to rest a bit when she heard the sound of pots and pands clanging in what she assumed to be the kitchen or dining hall. She bounced on the cushy bed slightly. It was much more comfortable than her rock-hard mattress of that school, and the quilt was soft and puffy, along with the pillows. The inn was quiet and cozy; there seemed to be no guests here tonight. That felt odd, to be alone by herself. The window showed a silver moon glowing in the distance. Katara lay down quietly on the bed and soon fell asleep. The bubble had tired her out.

She awoke and sniffed the air, which smelled vaguely familiar. It brought to mind...her mother.

_"Katara, sweet one, can you stir this for me, and maybe add a sprinkle of dried seaweed to it?"_

_"Yes, Mommy! When will it be ready?"_

_Her mother laughed. "Soon, Katara, soon. I'm going to call for your brother and father; they're off practicing their warrior skills. Don't let it burn, or else it wouldn't taste very nice."_

_"Okay, Mommy. I promise it'll be the best sea prune stew ever!"_

She wiped the tears from her eyes. Katara remembered that day. Sokka had come riding in on her dad's shoulders, waving his boomerang, which had hit Dad on the head accidentally (luckily, not on the pointed end). Dad had swore ("Hakoda!"), and Gran Gran had quickly treated it with an herbal poultice, while Sokka and Katara laughed while their mother gently chided Sokka and began to dish out the sea prune stew. They had eventually sat down, and her mother had hugged her, saying, "This_ is _the best sea prune stew ever, Katara." She had been so happy, and Sokka had nodded eagerly with her mother's statement while trying to talk about his boomerang adventures at the same time.

Katara walked out into the hall, following the smell, and trying to ignore the lump rising in her throat.

* * *

Hama was just setting down a black, covered pot with an array of other dishes when Katara was approaching.

"Just in time, dear." she said with another smile. "Why don't you sit down?"

Katara sat, pulling back a wooden chair, as Hama put down some more dishes. She uncovered the pot, and Katara gasped.

"No!" she drank in the sight, hardly believing the sight. Perhaps she had swum farther than she'd realized. "Stewed sea prunes?"

"I thought so." The innkeeper took a silver ladle and began to spoon it into a bowl. "No Fire Nation person knows that dish. You're from the Water Tribe."

Katara's heart jolted, and her first instinct was to shake her head and deny _No, I'm not, no_. She stared down at the food—five-flavor soup, sea crab, seaweed bread, squid, various fish dishes—then at Hama's gray eyes...no, _blue. _As she said, no Fire Nation person knew those dishes, nor how to cook them...

"You're...you're from the Water Tribe?"

"Southern." Hama handed the bowl to her, and Katara numbly took it, nearly dropping it in her state. "Yourself?"

"S-Southern. But how—?"

"How did I come here? I was captured, same as you, I warrant. I was brought to a dingy prison, so dark that when I first escaped, the sun burned my eyes, and I had to travel gradually during the evening, then work my way towards the day to get used to light again. The cages were suspended high, like ones for birds, and they were filthy and unclean and without chamber pots. You can imagine the stench."

Katara felt her stomach turn as she stared down into her stew as Hama placed more food on her plate. "That's_ horrible."_

"They pumped in dry air, then chained us from head to toe if we wanted a drink. We were hardly allowed to bathe ourselves, and of course, that allowed the guards to take liberties with us." Hama's mouth twisted. "We had good Waterbending healers, but we had to die if we got sick or injured. It was just the way. Finally, I was the only one left."

She felt sick as the plate was slid over towards her. "How...how did you escape then?"

Hama suddenly smiled. It was bright, odd, and not fit for the aftermath of one of the most gruesome stories Katara had heard in her life. "I will tell you soon, girl...what is your name? I feel that _girl _is impolite."

"K-Katara."

"Pretty. It has a lot of _water _in the meaning of it, am I right?"

"Yes, it does." Katara finished the last drop of her five-flavor soup and began to start on the stewed sea prunes. It wasn't quite the same, but she nearly cried again.

"It's a good Waterbending name. Would you like more soup, Katara? The ingredients are mostly Fire Nation; for example, the sea prunes are ocean kumquats, but it is somewhat home-like, is it not?"

"Oh, yes." Katara nodded as her spoon dug into the bowl again.

Hama raised her hand over the large pot as if to take the ladle...then the orange soup flowed gracefully with soft _plop _into her brown clay bowl.

Katara gasped. "You're a Waterbender! A Southern Waterbender! I thought I was—" She quickly stuffed the seaweed bread in her mouth before she could say anymore.

"Was what, Katara?" Hama asked her kindly.

"I...my mother..." The story pours out of her, about the day of the black snow, how her mother pleaded for her, Katara running back with her father, the smell of burned flesh, the funeral. She's crying, now, something she didn't dare to do in the school into the sea prunes, or sea kumquats.

Hama was now behind her, gently patting her shoulder. "There, there, Katara. Your mother was brave, and you could do nothing. You were so young. The Fire Nation is horrid, to take your mother away from you." Her hands clench into her arm as Katara sobs anew. "They will regret that one day, Katara. They will."

* * *

_Continued tomorrow in **28. Atonement**_


	28. Chapter 28

**28. Atonement**

"If my arms weren't burned, I'd throw ths cup at your face," Suki snarled as she tried to jerk out of her chains as she gestured rather painfully towards the still-full metal container. Zuko sighed and put his mask back on for something to do. He could hear the cicadas and crickets outside chirping.

"Look, I'm sorry, and _please _quiet down—the guards might hear. This really...got out of hand."

"Got out of hand? That's an understatement! Yue died, Jin turned traitor, Bumi is—well, I'm not telling you where he is, I got tortured, Sokka can't be found, and Katara had to flee, if you are to believed about the latter." Suki tossed her head, her matted hair limply coming down to pat softly on her neck. "You are the most _idiotic _and _monstrous _person I have ever met, and from what I see, you've done nothing to fix it besides free Katara because you were 'fond' of her or some bullshit like that!"

"I'm going to free you," Zuko continued, as if Suki hadn't just given him an angry speech. "And you are going to help me find the missing people and Katara, and we're going to shut down this school."

There was silence.

Suki laughed harshly. "There are my burns to be cared for. And how are you going to explain my disappearance, since you decided to come in your Blue Spirit costume, the one Zhao and the others know about?"

Zuko shrugged. "I'll figure something out." He raised his broadswords and brought them down hard on Suki's chains.

* * *

Katara was finishing another satisfying Water Tribe feast, this time, during breakfast, when Hama plunked down a box in front of her. She wiped her hands on the napkin before carefully picking it up.

"What's this?" Katara asked curiously. The box was metal and simple, with two gold, vertical lines on either side and a latch in the front.

"I unlocked it for you," Hama told her as the girl rotated it in her hands carefully and smoothed her fingers over the decorations. "Go on, open it."

She did so, and the box opened to reveal a blue-and-white whale tooth comb, elegantly carved to make it look like a breaching wave on one end, the teeth looking sharp, like miniature daggers.

"Oh!" Katara reverently took it between both hands. It was very lovely, and it made Katara wish Zuko had let her grab her whalebone beads and blue robe from her room before he decided to take her out for a "vacation." It was lucky she always carried her mother's necklace in her inside pocket, which to her delight, she could start wearing in the safety of Hama's inn. "Hama, this is so...it makes me think of home!"

"I'm glad you like it, child." Hama smiled at the comb. "It's my most precious treasure from the Southern Water Tribe. I got it from my parents from my sixteenth birthday; my father had carved it himself, and my mother had painted it. I managed to hide it in prison by concealing it in my hair, because I knew they'd search and burn my clothes, and cut it out when I finally escaped."

The old woman's hands began to pull her hair back from her face, and Katara quietly winced when one of the sharp fingernails accidentally poked her. Soon, her hair was twisted into a large bun with the rest of her hair hanging loose, with the comb stuck in it.

"There," Hama stepped back, then squinted. "Odd, you strongly resemble my best friend, Kanna."

"Kanna?" Katara gasped. "That's my grandmother's name! You knew her?"

Hama clapped her hands. "Oh, yes, she was very funny and clever; we had good times when we were girls..." Her eyes grew wistful. "It is a shame I never got to see her again..."

"Oh, perhaps you will, she still lives in the Southern Water Tribe." Katara consoled her as she began to start on her seaweed noodles.

Hama smiled and patted her on the back. "Oh, I might see her soon, Katara. Perhaps after breakfast, we can practice Waterbending? I'd like to teach you the Southern style."

Katara nearly choked on her noodles. "Really? I...I would love that! I really never had a teacher; my moves are really modeled from Firebending because of the courses at school—"

"Oh, don't worry, dear, you'll learn in no time..."

* * *

"Sir, with all due respect, I am not doing your dirty work for you. You do this on your own, because if I get caught, I will not allow you to blame me." Jee firmly said, crossing his arms.

Suki stood behind Zuko, twirling her "returned" fans with a smirk. "I like this guy."

Zuko shot an annoyed glance at her, then turned to Jee. "I just want you to check the records to see if they have status reports on Bumi and Sokka. I just know that none of the escaped students have been found yet, and it'll be hard enough to find them and Katara to help, ah, rebel."

Jee rolled his eyes. "What am I supposed to say when I get caught looking into the records? _Uh, General Iroh didn't send me any more books, so I thought I would do some light reading? _Or would you prefer _the Prince sent me? _That'll get a lot of questions now, with the staff being as jumpy as they are."

Suki snickered. Zuko groaned. "Fine, I see your point. I can ask Zhao about the missing students again. But how am I supposed to leave with them if I manage to find them? Smuggling Katara out was a risk enough, and we can't do it again."

Jee shrugged. "You can...pretend you're going back to the palace...and put them in supply barrels or crates?"

"Zhao knows this is a permanent assignment until the Fire Lord issues another decree. I will not be allowed back in court; I know that much."

Suki raised her eyebrows. "_Not be allowed? _What...are you banished, or something?"

The Prince groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. "It's a long story, but the thing is, my sister is the favored one in Father's graces, and I'm not and never was. So he sent me here as an excuse so he can get me out of his hair and so Azula can be prepared for the heir in peace. I would be, in turn, slowly shut out and carelessly forgotten while outwardly 'helping' this wretched school, but I got sidetracked in this..." he waved his arm around the room. "I made a report back to Father, so that's where the guards came from. Now, today, I got another message, saying that I did my estemmed duty, and it was surprisingly done well, but I need to go to Ba Sing Se to scout and help out War Minister Qin with a weapon, which is a very long way off from here. I'm expected to pack in three day's time."

"So, no one will think it amiss if you leave." Jee pointed out.

Zuko shrugged. "Well, yes, but what happens if I don't turn out at Ba Sing Se?"

Suki looked at the map unrolled on the desk. "You can pop in there and solve the problem as quickly as you can. You don't have to send a message to our father. Then, right near it is Chameleon Bay."

Zuko scratched his chin. "What's at Chameleon Bay?"

Suki's eyes flashed dangerously. "You don't need to know until we get near there. Right now, I think I know a way to get out of here and find Sokka. But we need Bumi."

"You know where Bumi is?" Jee asked, studying the map.

The Kyoshi Warrior nodded somewhat reluctantly. "Yes. But if you betray us, I'll make sure that your sister doesn't have to worry about an opponent to the throne."

Jee turned to Zuko. "I like this one."

* * *

_No, I do not support Suki/Jee either! Get that notion out of your head!_


	29. Chapter 29

**29. Steam**

Katara's limbs feel as if she's run a gauntlet, where she's been beaten with clubs and had to run five miles, but she feels satisfied as she walks back into the house. Hana's been teaching her incredible things, like pulling water out of thin air and plants, and not just small bubbles, but such copious amounts that she could split a boulder into thin slices. Hama seemed to like her aggressive style of Waterbending—sharp, fast, and quick with lots of waves and ice—but taught her the more flowing, carefree Southern way anyway.

Hama tells her to take a bath, and she'll cook lunch, another Water Tribe lunch. They will go to the market soon for more ingredients, but Katara doesn't mind. She likes Hama—she feels connected to her past every time Hama mentions her past life or shares a tale, and whenever she brushes the whalebone comb, the one Hama insisted she have as a "legacy being passed down." Katara also wears her mother's necklace, which is feels safe, firmly pressed against her throat and collarbone. She has missed the feel of it. Hama compliments the craftsmanship.

Katara has to get going, though. She has to free her friends from that school. When she expressed this to Hama, the old woman insisted on teaching her just one more powerful method of Waterbending.

"What is it?"

"it can only be done under the full moon, Katara." That was all she would reveal, and Katara tried to guess. Was it similar to pulling water out of another substance? Was it another way to conjure ice? Perhaps heat water, like a Firebender?

Katara is eager. Perhaps this can help free her friends.

* * *

Suki slams a cast-iron frying pan into Ms. Kwan's head.

"Always wanted to do that." she says, while hauling the teacher into a closet. Jee carefully welds the door shut.

Zuko shoots her a look. "Was this just a revenge thing, or was she an obstacle to finding Bumi?"

Suki shrugs. "Both. Now, hurry." Jee and Zuko trail the girl through the kitchens and down into the pantry. It's a bit chilly, so Zuko uses his Firebending to heat it up. He notices a wheel of cheese, noodles, star fruit, peppers, and more things that didn't make it somehow to the students' bowls. Suki taps the earthen floor in a seemingly random pattern.

"A secret passageway?" Jee asks.

"No," Suki answers with a slight smirk. "You'll see." And she steps back, just in time for Bumi, slightly dirty to emerge from the ground

"You're an Earthbender?" Zuko gapes. He's never seen the boy Earthbend during the resistance movement.

"Among other things." Bumi looks cautiously at him. "Are you...did you make Suki come here? Are you going to—?"

"He's apparently going to help us overthrow the school, but we have to find Sokka and Katara first." Suki informs him.

"Katara? I didn't know Katara was missing." Bumi looks worried.

"Zuko set her free." Suki explains, then gestures towards the three of them. "Listen, Bumi, can you take us underground? I don't want anyone coming down here all of the sudden or overhearing us."

Bumi nods and opens his arms, then everyone falls into darkness.

"Chameleon Bay." Jee points to the map, set on a stolen can of soup. "Right here."

"What's there?" Sokka asks. He had been hiding out with Bumi underground after a few hours hiding in the stables. The Water Tribesman smells vaguely of manure.

"Some old friends, including the one who taught me that tunnel trick." Bumi grins wryly. "You'll like them."

"So, can we tunnel out of here?" Zuko asks. "Just like that?"

"Well, you have to give the pretense of a princely leaving ceremony before you go with Jee, since Zhao knows your message." Sokka points out, seeming far too glad to point out an error in Zuko's naive thinking. "You can disappear behind or in something and tap out Suki's code, and we will do the rest."

"Uh, the Earth Kingdom is across the ocean." Jee points out. "Can you tunnel under the sea?"

"Not yet," Bumi answers, and he and Suki exchange covetous smirks. "We can do it the old-fashioned way: take a ship."

"We'll disguise ourselves as colonials." Suki thoughtfully murmurs. "If only we had proper clothes."

Sokka shrugs. "We can pop into a village before we go on the boat and steal some."

"Where would you get money?" Bumi inquires.

"Zuko's the Prince. Princes are rich. Rich people have money. Duh." Sokka rolls his eyes. "But how would we look if colonials are conversing and spending time with Prince Zuko and his guard Jee? We need to stay together."

"You could disguise yourself as a normal Fire Nation citizen." Bumi suggests.

Zuko shakes his head. "Fire Nation transportation units separate into classes. My gold eyes label me as a Son of Fire, and yours aren't. We'd be put on different levels."

Sokka whistles. "Wow. Even the Fire Nation separates their own kind."

Zuko narrows his eyes, and Suki sighs. This relationship isn't boding well...

* * *

Katara loves the full moon. She always feels so powerful underneath it and feels a certain smugness when the teachers complain about the dampening effect on Firebending during this time. It lights the night like a second sun, much in a much prettier and subtle way—in silver, shining like a lantern. She's already feeling stronger, and with her newfound knowledge, feels the water stirring in the tall grasses and trees as she walks behind Hama into the forest. Hama seems to stand a little straighter and keeps flexing her fingers slowly.

She then turns, right in the middle of an open field, surrounded by tall, looking trees. A catowl calls in the distance, and Katara shivers as a night wind hits her skin.

"What do you have to show me?"

Hama raises her arms. "I've taught you how to bend water out of air and plants. But now, during when a Waterbender is at their most powerful, I can show you to bend...a different sort of water." She flexes her arm, and with a terrible squelching sound, her veins stand out and pulse. Katara recoils, mind racing, but she shakes her head.

"I...I do not understand."

Hama frowns. "Katara, you are an intelligent girl. Do you remember about the precautions that the guards took to keep us from water?"

Katara nods slowly. "Dry air. Chains."

"Yes. But, during the full moon, I could feel this incredible energy, something so wasteful that I couldn't touch...I could not bend anything. But—the rats—"

"...Rats?"

"Yes, dear. They were _filthy_. They scampered on our food, across our toes, nibbled on our rags. Ugh! But, they were my inspiration from providence—they were nothing more than skins of fur and claws and..." Hama's eyes gleam and narrow, her voice lowers. "_blood_."

Katara bites her lip, then stops. "B-blood. You..." She's running the process in her head, hands trembling under the full moon. Her stomach feels ill. "You...bent the _blood_...from the guards?"

Hama laughs, cold and cruel and loudly. "No, that would have been too messy. I took control of them, like so—" Katara's arm twists against her will, and she gasps in shock, then again in relief when the invisible grip releases. "and made them unlock my cage. I knocked them out, too. I walked free, then, for the first time in decades. I nearly fainted, my ankles were so weak, but I did."

"So—" Katara swallows. "You're going to teach me this..."

"Bloodbending, Katara. We are the last Waterbenders of the South. We are the same. The Fire Nation tried to wipe us out, our entire culture! Our families are in danger! You must carry on my work, Katara!"

Katara thinks. This is such an advantage! She could force the headmaster and staff to free her friends, maybe tie each other up later. If she had this power, she could have saved her mother, forced the man on his knees to yield, to stop. Or perhaps stop Zuko—

But...this doesn't feel right. Hama is staring at her with hunger in her eyes. She looks as if she'll kill her if she refuses. The forest is too dark, the catowl is silent, the inn is miles away.

What would her brother do? He would try to distract her or prolong the moment until he could escape. That's what she will do.

Katara swallows and steps forward. For escape. For my friends. For Sokka. "Okay. Teach me."

The old woman grins.

* * *

It's a poor disguise, Zuko thinks. But it might work.

Sokka is dressed in a pair of Zuko's causal clothing (a vest, pants, and shoes, but not trimmed with gold), hauling his suitcases, while Suki is in the most provocative clothes Jee could find. Bumi and Jee are in full armor, with face plates and helmets, and Zuko rides his Komodo Rhino to the docks. Naturally, everyone stares before kowtowing right on the muddy banks.

"Prince Zuko!" The captain gapes, adjusting his red cap. "Uh, do you require passage?"

"Yes," Zuko nods as regally as he can. "Five to as far as Ba Sing Se as possible."

"As...as you wish." The captain is still stunned. "Who...who are these people, my lord?"

Zuko frowns and hopes the man doesn't take a close look at Sokka's blue eyes and Bumi's thin stature. "If you must know, captain, that boy—" he thrusts a finger towards Sokka and jerks his head or waves his hand to each of the people on turn. "is my valet. The girl is my personal concubine. And these two soldiers are my escorts and personal guards. They must be with me at all times to serve my needs."

"The space, my lord—" the captain glances at the decks, which are already crowded with gaping guests.

"Refund their money, if you must," Zuko suggests haughtily, opening his pouch, which glimmers brightly under the sunlight. The man's mouth opens, and the Prince swears he could see a drop of drool escaping from it.

The captain bows deeply, his hat almost falling off. "Very well, my lord! Ah, do you mean to say, I may have the whole purse?"

Zuko nods. "And remember, these people all stay with me, on the same level on the ship, close by enough to attend to me. Understand?"

"Oh, yes. Of course!" The captain waves them forward, as a few of the ship's own guards press forward to remove some grumbling passengers. The captain cheerfully refunds them and clutches the Prince's bag to his chest as if it was his firstborn son.

Zuko breathes. He hopes Katara is having an easy passage—

* * *

"I think you have the basics down, Katara." Hama smirks. "You are more talented than I am, I dare say."

Katara gasps as she breaks free of Hama's grip faster than she had the last time. They've been practicing for hours; she can feel the moon changing, shifting—that's what she's been hoping for. She looks straight into Hama's eyes they are bitter and cold and devoid of warmth. They are not like hers, she realizes. They both have suffered. But Katara has had her brother and friends to help and love her, while Hama was broken, alone, and a shadow of her former self.

It's a tragedy. But it can never be helped. Katara knows the Fire Nation is evil, that they should be held accountable for this sin, that she should be willing to be—no. It's not how she was raised. It's not how she's going to be.

Katara breathes.

"One time," she whispers to herself, and yanks down her arms.

Hama gasps in shock when her body hits the ground, her head hitting a tree. Katara doesn't look back—she runs as fast she can, tearing across the grass—

Then she's knocked to the ground, mud splattering across her face and hair. She tries to get up, but finds out she can't. Her body does not obey; it is immobile.

Hama laughs crazily; Katara's body jerks its way forcibly to face her. Her white hair is blowing in the wind, her eyes are flashing, her mouth is hanging open—she looks like a witch.

"A sneaky tactic—worthy of a Firebender!" she cackles, and Katara screams when her arm bends outwards. "Treachery!"

"No!" Katara gasps and closes her eyes. "_No_!" She struggles, then raises her eyes towards the lightening sky. The moon is hidden.

She feels something on her face—light and warm.

Just as her arm is beginning to crack, she pulls free as if chains are dropping to the ground.

Hama gapes and angrily grasps at the air with her clawed fingers. "What? Why isn't it—"

"The sun rose." Katara coldly says and takes a stance. _"You lose."_

Hama gathers water from the grove of trees behind her. "I have not been out of practice for long, girl!"

Katara breathes, then pushes a strand of hair away from her face. "I am the second in command of the Resistance, daughter of Chief Hakoda, last Waterbender of the South! My mother died to save me, and I will not use my gift for corruption! I will not lose to you!"

It's the most challenging battle of her life—she's never fought against another Waterbending opponent, but she manages well. Hama is old, so that's a distinct advantage, and Katara uses her agility and energy to leap out of the way and get closer. She fights like a Firebender, though, so she's not too good at defense, so a wave knocks her into a tree before she can really move and knocks the wind out of her.

As Hama rotates her arms, a circle of icicles cycling above her head,'ready to launch themselves at her, Katara suddenly remembers something from her "sparring" lessons, a throwaway line from her teacher.

_Break the root._

Standing from the roots of the tree, Katara aims for Hama's legs and sweeps water from the grasses to knock her off the ground with a thrust from both of her arms, sending the icicles straight downwards. She intervened before they do real damage, redirecting them to fall only on her clothes, pinning the old Waterbender to the ground.

Hama pants and glares at Katara, exhausted. "You—"

"I must go." Katara says and fingers through her hair before dropping the whale tooth comb at Hama's feet. "Thank you for the lessons you have taught me."

* * *

_So, this is the climax, basically, so "steam." Yeah._


	30. Chapter 30

**30. Gravity**

"This will succeed, _guaranteed_, over your uncle's failed six hundred day siege, beg Your Highness' pardon." War Minister Qin boasted, running his finger along the design expertly. "It's been developing for years, and the result is worth it! The hard metal shell is impenetrable to Earthbenders' attacks, and the drill itself can drill through the outer wall in, I dare say it, a day!"

Zuko stared. "That's...that's _impressive_, War Minister."

Bumi, still inside the guard disguise, raised his hand hesitantly, as if he was still in class, "Ah, but um, War Minister, what exactly will happen to the people of Ba Sing Se?"

Zuko didn't have time to shoot him a look, but Qin waved his hand, seemingly not noticing that a lower ranking soldier had spoken without his Prince's permission. "Oh, they'll be allowed to live in their lovely city, so long as they swear fealty to their superior, new order of the Fire Nation. The young ones, of course, will be sent to that school, the hmm, Three Nations Academy of Good Fortune. It will be for the best, of course, now that the silly rebellion was put down for good."

Jee quickly put a restraining hand on Sokka, who had obtained a guard uniform along the way (it had involved, he said, some careless watchmen and a deserted laundry business) and looked as if he wanted take his helmet off of his head and hit the war minister over the head with it.

"Ah, yes, of course." Zuko quickly said to fill up the silence. "When will the operation begin?"

Qin smiled eagerly. "Oh, I wasn't going to get started until you arrived, so—" He shoved the lever forward, and the drill began to issue steam and slow clanking noises. "let's go conquer Ba Sing Se!"

* * *

Suki rolled her eyes inside the stolen guard's helmet; it was really too big for her, but she told Zuko point blank that she was sick of pretending to be his concubine and refused to stay back at the inn while they observed the drill. "I cannot believe a war machine has a snack area."

Sokka shrugged. "I guess Fire Nation conquerors have to eat, too."

Zuko shushed them. "Really, did you _not_ listen to me while I was discussing basic soldier protocol?"

The two looked at each other and shook their heads once as Bumi started to eat a few of the almond cookies. "No."

The Prince glared at them. "You are going to blow our cover if you keep messing around. Stop eating, Bumi! Jee, do _not_ pick up that mango pudding! Listen, once this operation is over, we're going to Chameleon Bay."

"Wait," Sokka said suddenly, eyes narrowing. "We're not stopping this? We're not doing _anything_?"

Zuko crossed his arms, a bit taken back, but maintaing his composure nevertheless. "What are you talking about?"

"Those people are going to be invaded! The stronghold of the Earth Kingdom is going to fall, and their children are going to be sent to that...that...awful school! It's going to be _worse_ now because the resistance has been broken up, which means most of the Waterbending healers that were in it are gone and there are less students to help and protect them! The adults will have to surrender and live under a cruel regime!" Bumi protested in a fervent whisper, mindful of possible nearby engineers or guards.

"The Fire Nation has done _nothing_ wrong to the newly obtained territories." Zuko replied, a tone of harshness creeping in. "We establish a more organized government, create order—"

Suki wore a horrified look on her face, which she exchanged with Bumi and Sokka. "You...you _still_ believe in that stuff? You don't..."

"What is the _matter_ with you? Yes, they will be a _bit_ sore over the Fire Nation coming in, but they'll realize—"

"_No_!" Sokka stepped forward. "They're not, they're not _civilized_, Zuko."

There was a moment of stunned silence before Zuko broke it with a harsh laugh. "Listen, _peasant_, don't you—"

"Zuko, no..." Suki placed her hand on her concealed fan. "Don't you see? The Fire Nation is in charge. Therefore, no one can stop them from doing what they want. They can do anything." She but her lip when she looked at Sokka. "They can do _horrible_ things, like..._kill_—"

"Of course, opposing soldiers—"

"No!" Bumi, this time, stepped forward. "Not soldiers. Not just them. Regular people. Moms and dads and kids."

Zuko clenched his hands into fists. "You're _lying_. The Fire Nation is not that dishonorable."

"They killed my mother!" Sokka shot back, a break in his voice. "They _burned_ her!"

Zuko's mind raced. The Southern Water Tribe. Katara in his office for the first time. Her mother...

"That was for Decree 316—the raid for Waterbenders." A sickening knot tightened in his chest. "Your sister...she's a Waterbender. But she wasn't—"

Sokka's eyes had gone wide, his hands shaking, his knees looking as if they wanted to collapse right onto the floor. "No. During the lesson, Kwan said one woman was killed. That was..._Mom_. So..."

"The claimed last Waterbender. She must have...sacrificed herself for...her daughter. _Katara_." Zuko's nails dug into his palms. "She lied." He pictured Katara, smaller and in a blue parka, shivering in the snow, alone and sobbing.

Sokka's shoulders shook, but he looked the Prince in the eye. "Zuko, if Katara confessed, or they found out, would they have killed her?"

"Killed?" Zuko's mind felt slow, detached, stupid. "The order said...to eliminate...any—oh. _Oh_."

"You see?" Sokka whispered bitterly. "Monsters._ All of you._ That still doesn't change you. You did nothing when you saw what really happened behind the closed doors of the school. You saw what the teachers and even the other students did. You went along with your stupid plan _anyway_. You were always around Katara, and she told me how you were nicer, and now that I know that you were the Blue Spirit, you make me _sick_, how you made her believe you were this cool, great guy. She told me you felt regret, once, that was noticeable, but all _you_ did about it is hide away and protect the one girl you were obsessed about. You still believe in that stupid propaganda they fed to you. And I bet you're just hoping that you'll see Katara again, and you really don't give an artic-flea's _arse_ about this mission, really. I know what you're going to say," he continued as Zuko began to open his mouth, anger pooling in his good eyes. "you love her, you'll never hurt her, _whatever_. But she _won't_ love you if you don't do anything to make things right. Love isn't enough. You two weren't made for each other, and she could easily marry a Water Tribesman or Earth Kingdom guy and not miss you at all. You threatened her, you hit her, you betrayed her, and the only good thing you did was let her get away from you as soon as she could."

Sokka walked right past the Prince, knocking his shoulder into him as he passed. "I'm going to see what I can do to stop this drill. You can stop me; go ahead. But I'll know where your true loyalties lie. Come on, guys, let's go."

* * *

Bumi sliced through another metal support beam with a razor-sharp water blade. He wished he had a partner to help, but, what could he do? He'd also like to be a Metalbender, too...

Sokka was staring at him, looking bemused, but Suki was patting his back. "It's a bit hard to take in, I know." Jee, thanks to his Fire Nation soldier training, was more stoic, but his eyes betrayed his utter astonishment.

"I'm guessing Chameleon Bay is something bigger than I thought?" Sokka whispered, and Suki nodded. He'd like it.

"All right, I don't need to cut through all the way," Bumi was saying. "But, you guys better get out before it blows, before I hit it from the top."

Sokka nodded. "I'll trigger some of the pressure gauges as we go and smash some buttons in, too."

Suki patted her fans. "I'll help keep off the guards. Bumi, be careful. Do you need help at the top?"

"I'll be fine." Bumi answered confidently. "Just be safe. And get Zuko out, too."

"Is that optional?" Sokka grumbled.

"No! He helped us this far. We owe him. And so far, we don't have any guards rushing in or an alarm blaring." Bumi reasoned as he scampered to the ladder. "Go!"

They did so.

* * *

"I..."

"Get out of the way." Sokka took a stance. "Just because I am not a bender doesn't mean you shouldn't underestimate me."

"You were a good leader and a good fighter during the resistance," Zuko commented, arms still raised.

"Are you going to fight?" Sokka looked quietly at his left at Jee. "Are you?"

Jee shook his head. "If you mean against you, no." Sokka nodded, then turned his head back to face Zuko.

"Why do you just believe him like that?"

"We _trust_ him because, unlike you, he's helped us! He watched Katara because he was worried about what _you_ would do to her, he helped out during that summer festival thing when none of the other adults did, he stole medicine that saved Kita's life when she was dying from that heater-induced fever, and he's willing to help out!"

Jee looked at the Prince, eyes hesitant but firm. "Sir, I was ordered by your uncle to keep you safe. That's why I came. He has a different path for you in mind—"

Zuko sucked in his breath. "I know. He told me that during that tea ceremony. I had written him about...everything, and he had decided to come over and, and, see if be could persuade me not to."

"Well, you did anyway. Your father must be _so_ proud of you," Sokka snapped dryly. A boom echoed through the machine.

"Let's finish this outside before Aa—Bumi makes this drill explode." Suki started running towards the exit.

"Explode? He can _do_ that? But there's no earth here!"

Suki shot a grim look at Sokka. "We'll explain later."

* * *

Suki shielded her eyes from the sun as she looked up. "Looks like Bumi's ready—"

"Wait—" Zuko squinted upwards. "He's...running up the wall. Is that an Earthbender trick?"

Everyone was silent as Bumi leapt from the top of the wall, though Suki put a hand to her mouth.

"He'll get killed—he—"

Bumi landed, hard, on the earthen point on the drill as it was carving its way through the outer wall, and the drill shuddered and buckled, quickly falling apart at the seams. Sokka shrieked as he was first hit with mud erupting from the drill—"_Blech_! How did that"—and Suki quickly yelled, "Bumi! We're down here!"

Zuko gasped as a huge burst of wind from the impact hit his face. "_Air_?" Bumi was nodding to Suki and moving his arms so that the influx of mud—no, slurry—was redirected away from them. "Powerful bending? Wait, _Earthbender_—" he narrowed his eyes. "That was air just then. The running along the wall was just like the ancient scrolls depicting—"

Zuko's fists lit up. "_Airbending. The Avatar!" _

Suki gasped, then swore. "No! Zuko, no!"

Zuko was running forward, fire dancing in his fists. Sokka pulled out of his boomerang—

* * *

"You gave me a concussion."

"Oh, shut up. You just have to be woken up every few hours, and Jee thinks you're okay. He's been telling us pretty amusing stories of you've been hit in the head a lot."

Zuko raised his head to glare at the Lieutenant, but laid it right back down. "Ugh. Jee, you are—"

"Oh, just eat your rice, sir—you'll be fine."

Zuko then stared directly at Bumi. "You...I can go home."

Bumi stepped back. "What?"

"With you, I won't be pushed back farther and farther—I would have done what no Fire Lord has done in over a hundred years..._capturing the Avatar." _Zuko hissed when a new wave of pain shot through his head.

"Yeah, hold the world's savior hostage and let a tyrannical leader rule the world? Did you forget the implications of Decree 316 on the drill, or are you _that_ bull-headed?" Sokka pointed a sharpened stick with a burned fish at the end at the Prince, who glared right back.

"Zuko," Bumi said. "I know our relationship is a bit strained, but I want you to know that when I was growing up, I had tons of Fire Nation people as my friends. My best friend was Kuzon. We had so much fun together—we even saw a dragon. But coming out of the iceberg from a hundred years—"

"Wait," Zuko interrupted blankly. "I think I missed this part of the story."

"Well, I'll tell it later. But the point is, I was really shocked of how the world changed. It was so different and so sad. But...why couldn't it be peaceful again, like it was a long time ago?"

Zuko regarded Bumi for a minute. "That's a tough question. I don't know if I can answer it."

Bumi nodded seriously. "I understand, especially now that I've seen the school and part of the world. But...I hate to do this...but you have to make your choice soon."

* * *

_**Gravity (n): **Extreme or alarming importance; seriousness_

_Yes, I used that definition. Welp, I realized I have ONE DAY LEFT to sort of tie up loose ends, and it looks like that will be a challenge. It looks like the extended, separate fanfic is in the works after this, since Zuko isn't quite "good" yet. _

_Thanks much to Kimberly T. for inspiring Sokka's big "The Reason You Suck" speech to Zuko, and everyone who reviewed! chromeknickers and Boogum, thanks especially for reviewing almost every chapter here!_


	31. Chapter 31

**31. Eve**

"Winter is here." Katara said to herself. "And I don't know where to go, really. This was stupid, Zuko, letting me go. The gesture was nice, though. There aren't homes for runaway Waterbenders from the Three Nations Academy of Good Fortune."

Luckily, she was in the Earth Kingdom, safe from the Fire Nation. Unfortunately, the Earth Kingdom snowed, whereas Katara was used to the warmer climate of the Fire Nation, where it didn't. She managed to buy a warmer cloak from a merchant at Full Moon Bay by trading a stolen pot from Hama's (she doubted they would have taken Fire Nation money; she still had some of Zuko's money—she had used ten silvers to buy herself a cabin on aboard a Fire Nation ship to sail her to the Earth Kingdom and one silver for white powder, hoping they'd overlook her eyes). She was lucky to have hitched a ride with a kind pair of future parents and the husband's sister to Full Moon Bay, where she was stuck. She had no passport.

She tried, though. Katara had explained that she was from the academy, that she'd escaped, that she needed to get to Ba Sing Se to be safe, because they would be looking for her.

The big-nosed attendant had laughed at her "elaborate fable" and told her to "wait like all the others." Katara, at this point, was cross, hungry, and tired and had begun to beg, then move onto demanding, eyes darting around the room as if the soldiers would pop out any moment.

Her mistake was trying to bribe the woman. The gesture was bad enough—looking around, she saw dirty rags, hollow cheeks, dull eyes, and soft groans—but she realized, too late, that the shining gold and silver and copper coins in her outstretched hands were boldly stamped with the Fire Lord's insignia on one side or the flame on the other.

The woman had sucked in her breath, her eyes wide. "You—_Fire Nation—"_

"No, I'm _not_—I'm a _Waterbender_, it's just, someone gave me—"

"You will _stay_; I do not care if it is winter—you—_Fire child_—"

_"Fire...?"_ Katara felt as if her breath had been knocked out of her. "I'm _not..._I'm _not_ a Fire citizen or...or...an illegitimate child!_ Look—"_ She quickly drew water out of the air, swirling it around her fingers—"I'm a_ Waterbender_, from the South—"

"Get back, or I'll call security, girl!" Katara finally backed away, unable to look anyone else in the eye, and slowly walked towards the back.

Should she stay? She didn't know whether she'll get a ride at all, much less before winter ended. But she didn't know if she could leave, either. She had no money that would, well, be accepted and wouldn't have even gotten to Half-Moon Bay in the first place if it weren't for the nice couple and the sister. Katara bit her lip, but refused to look around for aid, thanks to the scene she had caused with Zuko's stupid money.

"Hey," a cool voice cut her off from any other thoughts. "What's a pretty girl like you traveling alone?"

Katara placed a hand on her (stolen) waterskin; it was lucky she could freely use her Waterbending, now that she was in the Earth Kingdom. Whirling around, expecting to face a dirty, lecherous old man, possibly backed by with equally disgusting cronies, she found herself staring into warm brown eyes paired with darker, scruffy hair and crooked eyebrows. Katara looked at the boy's hodgepodge of armor and clothes—somehow it fit together, and silver weapons gleamed from his back, the blades curved like fish hooks.

"What sort of swords are they?" she asked, avoiding the question carefully.

The young man drew them out with a slick ringing sound, and Katara instinctively stepped back. He smiled casually and began to demonstrate in the air against an imaginary opponent. "Hook swords. They were my father's."

Katara didn't ask where his father was. She already knew the answer. Peering behind him, she saw two other boys—a taller, skinner one with a straw hat, a sheath of arrows and a bow, and a blank look on his face and a shorter one with matted hair, red-striped face paint, and some daggers strapped onto his belt.

"Who are your friends?"

He put away his swords expertly, though with a bit of an over-the-head flourish coupled with a slight twirl, and gestured towards them, leaning back with an easy hand perched on his hip. "These are my Freedom Fighters...or what's left of them. The taller one is Longshot; he's an archer, if you hadn't noticed. The smaller one is Smellerbee; she's really nimble and good at these daggers."

"Ah." Katara said politely. "And who are _you?"_

"I'm Jet." He smirked at her, clearly waiting for her to ask. "Leader of the Freedom Fighters. And I hear you want to go to Ba Sing Se?"

* * *

Jet had passports—while he was chatting up the pretty ticketmaster, the two "Freedom Fighters" quickly pushed her on board and hid her among the crowd. Once the boat launched itself away from the stone docks, he was taking Katara by the shoulders and showing her the direction of Ba Sing Se.

"That's where I can start anew."

"Anew?" Katara tapped her fingers and gently played with the waves. "You mean a new life?"

"Well, partially. Do you know Chameleon Bay?"

Katara shook her head. "Well, no." They'd really only gone over the Fire Nation, and once, a few classes of the rest of the world, but those were for trading and exports and the like, and Chameleon Bay wasn't on there.

Jet took that opportunity to pull a map from his belt and point to a little area that was marked in tiny blue characters. "It's near the northern waters of the Eastern Sea in the north-eastern Earth Kingdom. It's actually a mouth of a river that leads directly to the outskirts of Ba Sing Se, where we are heading."

"Oh, stop the dramatics, Jet," Smellerbee said, coming back with bowls of...brownish soup with gray lumps in it. "Here, it's lunch. To tell the truth, I rather eat woodlice and bark again."

Jet winced. "That bad, huh? Here—" He gave one bowl to Katara. "Sorry, no utensils, I suppose. Cheers!" They both drank, and Katara gagged. it tasted worse than the winter at the academy, where the supplies ran low, and all they had were odds and ends of vegetables and picken intestines and a spoonful of partially expired red pepper, in hopes it would taste better. But food was food, so she choked it down. Jet did the same, although he poured the rest of the contents overboard.

"Foul! Absolutely foul." Jet smiled at her. "It looks like you have an iron stomach...ah...?"

"Katara."

"Katara." He set the bowl down on the deck and pointed to the map again. "As I was saying, we're going to Chameleon Bay because of something we found out from a Fire Nation soldier."

Smellerbee laughed harshly. "Longshot pinned his arms to the tree with his arrows. You should have seen his face!"

"Chameleon Bay is where a small ragtag army is. A rebel army. Good thing: they have ships. Bad thing: well, they're small. But we can add to their numbers. I hear they have benders, good ones, and even..." his breath tickled his ear. "the Avatar."

Katara jerked away. "The Avatar? You're joking." Nevertheless, she pushed aside her disgusting stew. "No one's heard of him for a hundred years."

"Well, he's out of hiding now. But we're going there, Avatar or not. We're going to take out the Fire Nation!"

The Waterbender gave up on her lunch and poured it overboard, just as Jet had done. "Does this include me?"

Jet cocked his head. "Well, you _are _a Waterbender. Which reminds me," he leaned forward ever so slightly, his arm splayed oh-so-off-handedly along the railing. "you have an interesting tale to tell us. a Waterbending girl, traveling alone, with Fire Nation coins and Fire Nation clothes under your pretty green cloak."

Katara flushed and tossed her head. "You would know if you'd listened to me...ah, barter with the passport lady."

Jet patted her hand. "You sure have the fire to challenge her; she reduced an Earthbending man, about a foot taller than me and the psychical strength of a armadillo bear to big, sobbing tears. Remember that, Longshot?"

Longshot had come upbehind her so silently that she hadn't noticed, and he nodded. Smellerbee laughed. "That's right, he talked funny, too, like _the Boulder is moved by your unpitiful pysche!" _

Katara smiled briefly, but dropped it. "I don't know you. I don't think...I can tell you, really."

"Not for the person who snuck you onboard to Ba Sing Se?"

Katara realized his hand was still on top of hers and yanked it back. "If you try to get me thrown off, don't you_ dare._ I'm a Waterbender, and a powerful one, and I am surrounded on all sides by the _ocean. _I have been through enough for the past few days, and if you so much as _open_ your mouth in the direction of one of the sailors, I'll _educate_ you about frostbite."

Smellerbee started forward, hands on her knives, while Longshot reached for his bow, but Jet raised his hand and waved them off with a short laugh. "I believe you, Katara. You're going to be an excellent Freedom Fighter."

"I will _not _join your group." Katara snapped, starting to walk away. "Thank you for your help, but all I want is to go to this Chameleon Bay and join the rebels."

* * *

Katara found out that the refugees had to sleep on deck, which seemed unfair, since the wind was chilly in the Earth Kingdom and was even more so at sea. She claimed, at least, a spot under the rafters and one of the blankets they passed around, so she tried to make the wooden deck as comfortable as she could. Katara thought about using her cloak as a pillow, but her breathy Fire Nation clothes were not suited for another continent's winter, so she crossed her arms on the floor and rested her head on them, making sure to keep a firm grip on the itchy blanket. Luckily, she'd heard the journey was only for a day, so this was a small burden to pay for a ride to Ba Sing Se.

Unfortunately, she barely remembered falling asleep when a rough hand shook her shoulder. She gasped and hit the person as hard as she could with a water whip, emitting a curse and a "Katara! Do you want us to draw attention?"

She inherently pulled the blanket up to her chin, even though she wasn't dressed indecently. A lantern flashed in her face, and once she recovered, she saw Jet standing above her, and thankfully, with Longshot and Smellerbee.

"What? What do you want?" she hissed, looking around. There were no guards nearby, and everyone else seemed to be sleeping, despite the gentle shower of rain beginning to start.

"Do you remember that foul gruel they tried to serve us on the first day?"

"W...yes. If you woke me up just to ask that, I'll—"

"Hear me out! Listen, the captain is eating like _a king _in his quarters. Smellerbee scouted and counted lots of poultry, cooked dumplings, and the like. Why should these poor refugees fleeing from this war and the Fire Nation suffer by his greediness? Is that fair?"

Katara was awake now; she sat up and pulled her cloak closer around her body, shaking her head. Her loose hair fell around her shoulders._ "No_, of course not!"

"These people deserve better. I know you rejected my offer for joining the Freedom Fights, but can you help us at least give these people a nice meal for breakfast before they go to Ba Sing Se?"

She began to tie her hair back with a broken-off piece of twine from the blanket. This strangely felt like one of the early resistance runs, the same urgency and excitement, but more important—not like graffiti or painting the Fire House. "All right. But we have to be careful."

* * *

Longshot and Smellerbee had kept guard as Jet and Katara swept through the storage room. They had stolen sacks from one of the closets, and Jet was tossing cooked meats in pell mell and stacked the dumplings in their neat little containers, while Katara rapidly filled canteens with water or tea, snatched a few treats, and got some chopsticks, cups, and bowls for the refugees. Now, the Freedom Fighters and Katara were carefully passing out the "liberated" (as Jet called it) fare to the hungry and grateful passengers. She smiled when a girl Kita's age delightfully sank her teeth into a custard bun, but worried silently. Was everyone okay? Did they all escape?

Jet was waiting for her. "That was thoughtful, bringing something to cheer the kids up."

Katara smiled slightly in return and broke the string that was loosely holding her hair together; most of it was in her face by now. "It was a good idea in the first place."

The Freedom Fighter grinned back. "I'm glad that—"

"Ba Sing Se sighted! Ready your belongings!"

Katara turned away to follow the instructions, but realized, again, she had no possessions, save the bag of coins on her belt (which were really useless, but could come in handy) and her cloak around her shoulders. "I guess we better eat before we land. We have a journey ahead of us."

* * *

The checkpoint was annoying to get through, but Katara stood away a little (there was more checking of the passports) and bought a cup of tea, albeit a cold one. Jet, again, picked a booth where a young woman who blushed every time he winked at her and got their passports stamped for approval before she finished. (She was beginning to sense a trend here) Katara followed the group out the gates.

"Now what?" she said, as they walked right past the sign that said _Monorail to Ba Sing Se _and quietly slipped out of the enclosed building.

"Now," Jet sighed. "Walking."

* * *

Chameleon Bay was farther than it looked on the map, but then again, things usually were. Jet, at least, had the foresight to keep some of the food they stole from the boat's captain with him in case they didn't find any food, and Katara was at least thankful for the technique Hama had taught her—drawing water out of plants and air.

"It's completely safe," she assured them and drank it, trying to ignore the stares and Jet's whistle.

Katara had never really gone outside of the school, except for Hama's inn and to the ship and Full Moon Bay, where people took care of her if she didn't know how. She didn't know of any helpful plants for eating, and her hunting attempts were shoddy. Jet and his friends seemed to know everything—starting camp, setting and springing a trap, where to find berries, tracking an animal, the useful herbs, hiding their tracks, making the caught meat and herbs into a decent meal, and what trails to avoid.

Jet claimed that were now only a day's away from Chameleon Bay and lay down on the ground. One thing they had neglected to bring were bedrolls, but all of the Freedom Fighters seem used to it. The moon is full and bright in the sky. Katara looks at the stars, trying to memorize Jet's lessons about finding their way with them, but gave up and began to pick apart familiar but vague constellarions of her people. There was the otter-penguin, Sedna rising from a wave, a warrior racing through the sky with spear, a bull-elephant taking on the first chief of the Water Tribes, the mooncrab...she murmurs the stories to herself, but finds out that she can't remember a lot of the details. It makes her quiet, sneak a glance at the sleeping figures, and finally turn over, her chest tight.

She watches the embers of the campfire dim softly in the night and curls up further into her cloak, eyes already closing...

A knee was suddenly digging onto the small of her back, and with dim horror reegistering in her mind, she realized her hands were being restrained by wide, calloused hands fumbling with thick, wiry rope. She screamed as loudly as she could, kicking _hard, _and managing to hit her captor in the back of his head with a waterskin-full of freezing water when her hands were temporarily free by the startled man. She started to stand up to regain her stance, but was shoved against a tree. Jet was already down; someone had taken his hook swords, and he was cursing them with eveything he had while trying to thrash his way out of their hold. Smellerbee was biting and squirming on the ground, held by two men, and Longshot was as silent as ever, but still putting up a good fight, despite that they'd taken his bow and arrows away.

"Let go!" Katara panted, trying to break free one last time. "We don't have any thing of value; let go!"

A hand was then on Katara's face, covering her mouth and clenching her cheekbones so hard that she thought they might bruise. "What are you doing here, and how did you know the location of our camp?"

* * *

_Okay, I so skimped on the actual "journeying" and food raid. The rest of the storyline will be continued in the constantly mentioned extended fic. _

_I really enjoyed writing the very first Zutara Month; I cannot wait for next year! Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed, and read this! Your support truly means a lot to me!_

_I've been having trouble with title names for the extended fanfic of this story, so...whoever comes up with a **winning title **gets **credited** and **a oneshot of any topic you choose. **Huzzah!_


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